


Shine Again

by thebaddesthero



Category: Captain America (Movies), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Howard Stark's A+ Parenting, Hurt Loki (Marvel), Hurt/Comfort, Jotunn Loki (Marvel), Kid Loki (Marvel) - Freeform, Lady Loki, M/M, Odin (Marvel)'s A+ Parenting, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Protective Avengers, Protective Thor (Marvel), Protective Tony Stark, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Tags May Change, Teen Loki, Thanos is dead, and tony is a decent human being, everybody else lives, he won't have inappropriate thoughts even long after they would be appropriate, i killed him and it felt good, obviously, post Avengers 4, since loki is a kid in the first few chapters
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-26
Updated: 2018-12-25
Packaged: 2019-07-02 14:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 22,943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15798723
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thebaddesthero/pseuds/thebaddesthero
Summary: Thor brings back his baby brother from Death once again, who is quite literally is... Well, a baby. Little Loki makes friends with the Avengers pretty quickly, especially with Tony who just loves to spoil him rotten. But as the kid grows and his memories come back, old wounds get reopened and drama happens.But probably this would be just the perfect way for Loki to heal.And probably Tony could heal with him, too.Oh, and Valkyrie is in trouble, of course...





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 1 and 2 is now edited thanks to Mettamom999! :) Thank you very much!

„Dum-E, don’t be stupid. You know this is for your own good!”

 

An agitated chirp is the only reply Tony gets for his trouble. He puts his hands on his hips and starts to tap his right foot on the floor impatiently.

 

“You don’t tell me to shut up, young man! Unless you want to get grounded.”

 

Dum-E turns away from him with another, very indignant chirp. Tony narrows his eyes at him.

 

“Yes, I can punish you. I’m your father and I want the best for you, so if you can’t see that you need some time alone to think about things seriously.”

 

There’s another whirring chirp that is the loudest so far and Tony is so shocked that he almost can’t answer. Almost.

 

“DUM-E! How dare you speak like that to me? You are in very deep shit, buddy. You…”

 

There’s an amused chuckle that interrupts his indignant rant and Tony turns towards its source with thunderous eyes.

 

“Why are you giggling, Rogers? Does my suffering amuse you? Do you want to be grounded, too?”

 

Steve sits on the couch, a tablet in his hands and a napping Bucky’s head in his lap. Until now he was working on his art projects quietly, sometimes peeking at his boyfriend’s peaceful face with a fond smile, sometimes caressing his long hair affectionately, and now he stares at Tony with unashamed amusement.

 

“You are too strict on the poor little guy, Tony. And it’s not like he didn’t learn that attitude from his dad. Especially when it comes to medical issues,” Steve answers with a sly smile. Tony frowns at him.

 

“You are very brave hiding behind your ex-assassin of a boyfriend, Rogers, but you forget that this is my workshop, my space. I can kick your asses whenever I want,” Tony threatens the super soldier mock seriously, and he grins back at him, a clever, bickering answer twinkling in his baby blues already, but before he could say it out loud Bucky’s murmuring words prevent him.

 

“Don’t mind him, Tony. He is just a punk and can’t shut his pretty little mouth like usual. Will punish him later for your honor.”

 

“Buck!” Steve shrieks and turns into a very interesting shade of red very quickly. Now it’s Tony’s turn to snicker at him.

 

“Thank you very much, James. You are an exceptional gentleman. In exchange I hope that his other body parts turn into the exact same color as his face, just as prettily and just as quickly.”

 

“TONY! Oh my god…” Steve buries his face into his hands and seemingly he is very close to hyperventilating and while Tony continues his evil chuckling, Bucky sits up on the couch, gathers him into his arms and kisses his forehead lovingly.

 

“Hush, doll, he is just jealous,” Bucky assures his boyfriend in a kind, soft murmur, then looks up at Tony, who’s just stopped laughing, with mirth in his eyes, winks, and mouths at him above Steve’s shoulder “You bet!”

 

Tony tries to hold himself together, he really does, because he doesn’t want Bucky to get into any trouble that would result in him sleeping on the couch on the communal floor and Steve being super sassy and sulky – an actual little bitch, really – the next day, but it’s a hard battle that he eventually loses. So he laughs with all his might while Bucky is grinning at him over a still clueless Steve’s shoulder. But their captain is not dumb, no matter how much he loves to pretend otherwise sometimes, and discovers their mischief in seconds. He disentangles himself from his boyfriend’s arms and pouts at him with a nasty frown around his puppy dog eyes.

 

Oh, Bucky is in so much trouble!

 

“You! Are! Dead!” he exclaims very slowly and very threateningly and Bucky is up from the couch in a blink of an eye, inching toward Tony slowly. Like Tony would protect him… Tsk, please… Tony always would be up to watch them wrestle… without their shirts and in tight, tight Speedos, preferably.

 

“I hate you both!” Steve now strides toward them with confident steps and Bucky is hiding behind Tony, trying to squeeze himself smaller, so he can fit behind him perfectly. Of course, it’s mission impossible with his height and built, but still, he should be rewarded just for trying.

 

“Stevie, babe, we were just joking…”

 

“I wasn’t!” Tony interrupts with a wicked grin.

 

“You’re not helping, Stark!”

 

“Well, I don’t really want to,” he smirks at Steve and steps away from Bucky. “All yours, buddy. But be careful with his arm, I just finished updating it yesterday.”

 

“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.” And Steve, the hypocritical little shit, sends him a naughty grin before he says, “With his arm.” Before pouncing on his boyfriend so… well, it seems like he wants to ravish his soul through his mouth. Some days Tony misses the good old days when Steve was their sweet, innocent golden boy. Some days… But usually he enjoys the shows these two throw everywhere they go nowadays. Except when they are in sweet threesomes like now. Because then things tend to get a little bit awkward…

 

It’s not like Tony is jealous, because he is absolutely, completely, totally not jealous. Of course not. Well… except… he is. Just a little bit. And not at Steve, or Bucky. No, not really. Not in particular. But rather at their relationship. They are just… so freaking sweet and adorable and in love. Tony just wants to pinch their flushed little cheeks and kiss their foreheads and coo at them until his cuteness initiated delirium wears down to a manageable level.

 

Or he wants to slap them hard in the face for reminding him of Pepper and him and… before. When they were still together, when he hasn’t fucked up yet – not too badly, at least – and wanted to marry her and have kids. On occasions like this he misses Pepper like crazy and would give half of his brain to have her back, although they haven’t been an item for more than half a year already, and… and if he could turn back time – well, he could, actually, but Stephen would kill him and no way, no, no fucking Thanos again, just NO – he would still do everything as he did them for the first time. Even then, when he jumped onto that space donut, he knew that their relationship was over and still did everything he could to assure her safety away from him rather than to have her by his side and in danger.

 

So… Yeah… Since today his angsty feelings won over his cuteness-delirium he slowly inches towards the still making out love birds – whose hands presently rediscover very decent bulges on each other’s bodies – to smack those clever little heads together, but fortunately he is rescued from his obviously not thought-over actions by a bright flash of yellow-orange light and a deafening clap of thunder.

 

Yay, Thor is back! And his timing is perfect, like always. Oh, and he gets bonus points for distracting the little doves from eating each other’s faces off. Good job, thunder boy.

 

When Tony and the panting couple turn towards the source of the flash, Thor stands there, indeed, in the middle of his workshop, stray bolts of lightning still dance around his muscular body, his new, teleporting magic axe is in his right hand. And in his left… there is… a little boy? Or a girl? Tony can’t really tell, since they have their little face buried in Thor’s thick neck, their tiny legs around the man’s hip as he holds them with one arm and with one of their little, little hands they are clinging to the thunderer’s cape with the other gripping onto his thick beard. They look very tiny and fragile compared to Thor’s large upper body and Tony is quite sure they couldn’t be more than five or six years old.

 

“My friends! It is so good to see you. I sincerely hope that nothing ill has befallen you in my absence,” Thor bellows and the little thing on his chest cringes just like the other three adults in the room. Thor notices his mistake instantly and releasing Stormbreaker -which falls to the floor with a loud thud-, he gently starts to pat the child’s back, shushing them quietly.

 

“Hey, buddy! It’s about time you got back. You had us quite worried,” Tony greets Thor with a big grin. He missed the big guy and he was really pretty worried about him since one day he just departed to only he knows where, without telling anyone anything, and leaving only a short message with Friday, asking them not to come after him, that he would be back after he was done with his business.

 

But that was months ago, and Tony was afraid that something horrible happened to him and that they would never see him again, since… Well, okay, Thor’s never been the level-headed, composed kind, but since he lost his family, his home, his people, his brother and literally his everything he showed some rather worrisome, passive suicide tendencies, like constantly throwing himself into a deadly situation without a second thought. Of course, he would never kill himself deliberately, in his culture it isn’t an acceptable thing in any situation, but in his subconscious he just wanted to go after his people and family so much that it was almost unbearably painful to watch.

 

But now he looks like he is in better spirits and Tony has a very likely suspicion about it being because of the little kid he cuddles oh so protectively to his chest.

 

“Thor! Welcome back!” Steve chimes in cheerily after he pulls himself together and realizes who interrupted his previous, steamy actions, while Bucky just waves at Thor with a bright smile on his lips. “How was your journey? And you brought a little friend with you?!”

 

“Oh, my friends, I have so many tales about my journey to tell you. You do not know how fortunate I am to have a sister as the queen of Helheim who likes me well enough to give him back to me,” he kisses the child’s forehead lovingly while the trio looks at each other with question marks plastered all around their heads.

 

“Hey, big guy, slow down a little. Who is that little buddy of yours, exactly?” Tony inquires, trying to focus in on the child, who still hides their (his?) face from them, “And isn’t your sister dead? Didn’t she try to kill you while she was alive?”

 

“Oh, he is my brother, of course, and Hela was not trying to-“

 

“Thor, Thor, Thor, wait!” Steve interrupts, surprise making his usual baritone shoot up a few octaves higher. “Isn’t your brother dead, too?”

 

Thor sends him a betrayed glance and hugs the – apparently – little boy a bit more firmly to himself. The child murmurs something into his ear and he murmurs something back, that sounds very much like ‘Of course you are not, Loki.’, but Tony can’t be sure. He is only sure about that he’s never heard Thor speak so gently and quietly before.

 

“Thor, I’m sorry if I offended you or your little companion, but this is a rather odd situation for us, you have to see that. Can you please explain, shortly, what happened to you in the months we didn’t see you. And is he really Loki? Do we have to be alarmed by him?”

 

“Of course, Steven. He is indeed my brother and you have nothing to fear, since he is not evil, like I have told you on so many occasions already, and anyway, he is just a babe,” Thor explains a little impatiently, then the little hand that is still squeezed in his beard tightens its hold on it spectacularly, so the older god would pay attention to its little owner’s mumbling. Thor listens much more patiently now, then nods.

 

“Well, he is obviously not a babe, but a very, very young man,” Thor translates the murmuring that is followed with another whisper from little Loki, “since he could read and write already. Oh, and he is quite skilled with his little knives, too.” And now the little boy shakes his head vehemently and whispers in a volume that is still unaidable for the three of them, but rather louder than his previous murmurs. “But that does not matter. What matters is that he loves books,” Thor finishes with a big grin on his face and seemingly his very little baby brother is satisfied with his explanation, finally, because he releases Thor’s beard and snuggles into his chest adorably.

 

“And he has you wrapped around his pinky, already,” Bucky declares with an amused tone.

 

Thor’s grin widens even more.

 

“He does that, also.”

 

“Okay, now that we know all that, can you tell us what happened from the beginning, Thor, please?” Steve, the little party-pooper, interrupts, and Thor’s big, goofy smile disappears almost instantly.

 

“Well, as you know, my brother died a warrior’s death against the Mad Titan, trying to protect me, so his soul was true and clean upon his death and went to Valhalla, of course. But as you are aware, my brother gets bored easily if his clever brain is not occupied for a long time, and was never really fond of warrior company, anyway, so he went to make mischief and annoy our sister daily, who upon her death claimed the throne of Helheim promptly. Fortunately, our sister was not as cruel to punish him just because he was bored, although Loki kind of… withheld her from ruling his kingdom in peace. Constantly… She rather sent me a message through a dream to come and collect him, because she did not want him there anymore. So I went. I journeyed for a very long time, climbed Yggdrasil to its roots and on the very longest, deepest one I found Helheim.”

 

“Wait, Thor. You are trying to tell me that… you actually really climbed a giant mammoth tree to travel when you had your teleporting axe with you? You aren’t serious, are you?” inquired Tony with a deep frown on his face.

 

“Of course, I am serious, Anthony. These are very serious matters. You see, my friend, the thing about Helheim that makes it so different from the other realms – apart it being the land of the Dead, of course – is that you can’t travel there unless you die first, or climb on Yggdrasil, and that is a deathly journey enough to keep away those who wish to remain among the living. Every branch is protected by the most ancient, foul beings, the roots even more so, so those few who dare to wander down there, usually make their destination rather fast, they just will not come back.”

 

There’s a grave silence after Thor’s little explanation, no one really wants to acknowledge the obvious fact about Thor’s mental health just before his journey. But since they avoided the subject far too long already, and almost lost one of their best friends without anyone being the wiser because of it, Tony can’t hold his tongue any longer.

 

“Well then, it was really nice of your sister to ask such a thing from you,” he says sarcastically, and Thor just frowns at him instead of answering, so he continues. “Thor, how many people made it entirely down there and back before you?”

 

“I know of none, but I am sure-“

 

“And you found it a good idea to just march down there on impulse like the big idiot that you are without telling anyone where you’ve gone and without asking for help from your friends. Because if you think that we wouldn’t go with you if not for Loki since we don’t really know him yet but for you, then you are a bigger oaf then you let on, and what is showing is enough already. You are just so-“

 

“Tony…” Steve’s gentle hand on his shoulder interrupts him in his rant and Tony is a little bit grateful for it since maybe he shouldn’t speak like this to a god no matter how friendly terms they are on with each other, but Thor just waves him off with the hand that he was using to pet little Loki’s dark curls and petite back until now.

 

“It is alright, Steven, I can understand Anthony’s point of view, but… my friends, I could not ask something like that from you. You have so much to lose, but I... I had nothing to lose but so much to gain. So I had to do it on my own,” he sighs and looks around the workshop, avoiding eye-contact with the three other adults, but Tony would swear his eyes are teary. The poor guy.

 

He cradles baby Loki a little bit higher on his hip then strides towards the couch, sits down on it and arranges the little boy in his lap with gentle hands so he sits comfortably, his tiny legs dangling down on the right side of Thor’s legs.

 

Tony exchanges a worried glance with Steve who looks kind of speechless and Bucky is not so close with Thor yet, so it’s obvious it’s Tony who needs to comfort him somehow – and fast, since Thor buried his face into little Loki’s tiny neck and the only sounds that could be heard is his muffled sobs and the kid’s whispered murmuring, repeating Thor’s name questioningly, and the sight is truly heartbreaking.

 

Tony walks to the couch slowly and sits down next to them. He still can’t see Thor’s face but Loki is now turned towards him and it’s quite surprising how much his little face resembles his adult one. It just so much smaller; his big, green eyes are even larger on this tiny face and his flushed little cheeks look soft now, like every child’s, his adult self’s prominent cheekbones are nowhere in sight yet. He’s as adorable as his adult self is handsome.

 

He glances at Tony when he sits down next to them, a small pout on his thin lips and a worried frown around his emerald eyes as he hugs his brother with his tiny arms.

 

“Hello there, little buddy,” Tony smiles at him kindly and Loki’s frown deepens just the littlest bit. “I’m Tony. I’m a friend of your brother. Your name is Loki, right? You have a very neat little cape on you.” If the little boy is anything like his adult version, then complimenting his attire wouldn’t hurt anyone. “Did you choose it yourself?”

 

The frown almost instantly vanishes from his face, leaving his features soft and baby-like. He nods as he squirms around a little, so he is turned towards Tony a little better.

 

“Yes. And Thor brought it for me,” Loki answers eventually if a little bit shyly, and Tony could swear he has the cutest voice he’s ever heard from a child. He lisps a little, but not enough for it to be difficult to understand him. And it looks like Tony accomplished his purpose with his compliment, because he doesn’t snuggle back into Thor arms completely, rather asks, “Do you know why Thor is sad?”

 

“Because he missed you very much, little one,” Tony replies, placing his left hand onto Thor’s shoulder and squeezing it gently. Wow, it’s like… petting a freaking rock.

 

“But I am here. I did not go anywhere,” he says confusedly then turns back to his brother and squirms away from him just as much to be able to hold his brother’s wet cheeks into his tiny, tiny hands. “Thor, I am here. Don’t cry, please.”

 

“Oh, you!” Thor laughs weakly despite the tears still flowing freely down his face, he grabs the little boy under his armpits and throws him into the air, tossing and catching him twice like he doesn’t weigh more than a tennis ball. The kid screams when he is in the air and giggles when Thor catches him and when he is in his brother’s arms again, he snuggles up to his chest with such pure, childish delight on his face that Tony’s heart aches for his adult self greatly. He knows for a fact that Loki is not evil by nature and that the man they encountered before and during the Battle of New York was the result of intense mental and physical torture from those foul creatures that captured him after his fall and centuries of rejection from his own people and family, but still…

 

“Never leave me again, Loki, please,” Thor whispers into the kid’s ear and presses little kisses onto his flushed cheeks and forehead so very affectionately that Tony can’t watch them for more than a second. He turns his gaze towards the super soldiers and finds that Steve is not rooted to the floor anymore but rather close to the couch and doesn’t hesitate much before he sits himself down on the other side of the brothers. Bucky is closer, too, but he still seems awkward like always in these kinds of situations.

 

“You alright, Thor?” Steve squeezes Thor’s other shoulder gently and the god looks up at him with puffy, red-rimmed eyes, but smiles nonetheless.

 

“Yes, of course. I am sorry, my friends, I was just…”

 

“An oaf!” Loki states very helpfully with such innocent excitement that it surprises a dumbfounded laugh out of all of the adults.

 

“I will show you an oaf, you little demon!” Thor then grabs him under his arms, lies him down over his thighs and starts to tickle his soft little belly with gentle fingers. Little Loki giggles and screams and kicks and squirms but before he could start to seriously protest, he is between his brother’s arms again, snuggling like the precious little boy that he is.

 

“Wow, if I’d known that he was so ticklish during the invasion we could have dealt with him more peacefully,” Tony mumbles to himself, but of course the super soldiers and the two gods heard him, so now he gets a cute little pout from little Loki – although Tony is almost sure about that the kid doesn’t really know what he is talking about – a frown from Thor, a grin from Bucky and an eye-roll from Steve.

 

“Well, it’s not like you could have got under his armor so easily,” the latter states matter of factly and now it’s Tony’s turn to roll his eyes, because… Yes, he could have got under adult Loki’s armor quite easily if he’d really wanted to, he is pretty sure about that. But he won’t declare such things in the presence of said deity’s protective older brother, that’s for sure. He likes his head on his neck the way it is now, thank you very much.

 

“We are very happy you are back with us, Thor. And we are glad to have you here, too, Loki,” Steve smiles down at the little boy, who accepts the greeting with a curt, shy nod. “I’m Steve, by the way. I’m a friend of your brother, too.” Loki nods again, then peeks toward Bucky with a worried glance. Bucky was quiet during the whole time and he has a metal arm, so of course he might be a little bit scary to such a small child. Fortunately, Steve got to the same conclusion as him and points his left thumb toward his boyfriend nonchalantly. “Oh, and that metal armed, scary man over there is Bucky. His real arm was injured in a fight so now he uses a metal arm instead,” he says it like that arm is not a fucking masterpiece of modern technology and neurosurgery. “But don’t worry, he likes kids. He is just a little bit awkward when he first meets them,” he explains with surprising patience, but it worth every and each word because after Bucky grins and waves at him kindly, every bit of tension leaves Loki’s tiny body and he sinks back against his brother’s wide chest. Thor immediately starts to pet his adorable, black curls while cradling him on his thighs lightly.

 

“Are you mortals? Thor told me he had mortal friends and that we will visit them. Are you them?” Loki inquires quite bravely now that he is sure the stranger adults won’t hurt him.

 

“Well, I’m not quite sure about those two’s mortality,” Tony points toward Steve and Bucky with a grin, “but yes, the three of us are humans. You are on Midgard now, little one. We call it Earth.”

 

Loki acknowledges his explanation with a nod then finds Tony’s gaze with his own and holds it. His little brows are in a strict frown.

 

“If I stay here with you and I am naughty will you eat me like a frost giant would?” Loki asks like it’s a perfectly normal thing to inquire from beings who are alien for him and suddenly there is a very uncomfortable silence in the workshop. All of the adults tense up completely, Thor’s shoulders actually broadens to their total wideness – which is fucking impressive – while he hugs his baby brother to himself so hard that the kid makes a very unpleasant noise because of it.

 

Wait! Wasn’t Loki like… a frost giant, originally? What would convince him into thinking that his own species eat naughty children? Who would say something like that to such a little boy, anyway?

 

Tony exchanges another confused glance with the two super soldiers; Steve is completely dumbfounded, and Bucky scowls a little bit too murderously to be appropriate in the presence of a child. He really, really hates each and every form of brainwashing…

 

“No one will hurt you here, Loki, I swear,” Tony promises then blinks up at Thor whose mind slowly comes back to the present, “and I don’t think that frost giants…” Tony starts, but Thor won’t let him finish his sentence now that he’s found his voice again.

 

“Of course, they do not. Loki, sweetheart,” he addresses his little brother then grabs the child under his arms gently and pushes him away from his upper body just so much that he could look into his eyes. “Humans do not eat naughty children, baby. And frost giants do it neither. Who did tell you otherwise, my little falcon?”

 

“Father. And Lady Alfhild. And Sir Egil. And you, Thor,” Loki explains hurriedly and Thor frowns down at him, completely confused.

 

“When did I tell you such a thing, dearest?”

 

“When you were little, too, like me. You told me Father has told you that we cannot go into the forest alone because there were stray frost giants there, who liked to eat naughty children who did not listen to their parents.”

 

There is just a very uncomfortable silence for some seconds, but soon Thor cuddles his baby brother to himself once again, hides his face into the child’s tiny neck so his sobs are muffled but still quite audible.

 

“Oh, sweet Valhalla, my little one,” he cries quietly. “I am so sorry, baby. It is not true. Father lied and I just told you what I have heard from him because I was little just like you now. And the Ladies and Sirs were just afraid of them, because we were in war with them for so long. But they are not monsters, my sweet darling, and they do not eat children. They are just people like us.” Listening to Thor’s weak words are heartbreaking, and Tony’s heart actually beats in his chest so erratically it almost hurts. How could a father… with an adopted frost giant child...

 

“But Father said…”

 

“Because your father was a douche, little Loki.” And now Bucky’s found his voice, too, of course. He almost growled his disgusted, angry words and Tony can’t really find it in himself to blame him. He actually agrees with him with his whole heart.

 

Loki glances dumbfoundedly at Bucky first – obviously he doesn’t know what the word means that Bucky used to describe his foster father, but suspects it is not a kind adjective – then back at his brother, who doesn’t even try to protect his dickhead of a father for once rather just wipes away the tears from his face, so the little boy shrugs his tiny shoulders and nods.

 

“Sure, he was if he lied,” he declares lightly and in seconds he has the adults in a surprised laughing fit once again. During it Thor cuddles the poor kid so tightly Tony is seriously worried about his air supply.

 

“I can see that you are very wise for so young, little Loki,” Bucky states after they were able to calm themselves down for once and steps closer to the couch so he can crouch down before the little boy, “but have you ever seen robots? They are thinking, sentient machines.” Loki shakes his head, but he is obviously very interested in the subject, his emerald eyes shine with bottomless curiousness. “Then you are lucky because our friend, Tony here, built some pretty awesome ones, if you would like to examine them.”

 

Loki glances towards Tony, mentally asking ‘Really?’ and after Tony nods with a kind smile, he glances at his brother, nonverbally asking for permission to go with Bucky.

 

Thor kisses his forehead then swipes away a naughty, black curl from Loki’s eyes.

 

“You can go with James, if you want, dearest. You will be just over there, and I will stay right here with Anthony and Steven. You would be able to see me the whole time, I promise.”

 

Loki nods his understanding, turns towards Bucky, takes the man’s outstretched real hand and with some help from it he climbs out of Thor’s embrace quickly so they could go and find the ‘bots. After they take a few steps towards the charging station, he looks back at his brother who just smiles at him encouragingly so he takes Bucky’s hand once again and goes towards his destination with newfound confidence. They are quite an adorable sight together; little Loki is no taller than Bucky’s hip and his tiny hand would fit into the man’s at least two and a half times. His little cape billows after him in a cute, clumsy way.

 

“He is a very nice kid, Thor,” Steve says after they are out of hearing distance. Tony has to agree.

 

Thor lets out one last sob before nodding enthusiastically.

 

“He is the sweetest.”

 

“Contrary to your father, who…” Tony tries to complain about Odin Daddy dearest’s kid raising methods, but Thor waves him off.

 

“I know, Anthony.”

 

“He had a sweet, intelligent, precious little boy as his adopted son who is actually a frost giant and he taught him to… to fear his own people and recognize them as monsters. That’s just so…”

 

“I know, Anthony!” Thor interrupts him once again, now with a little bit more volume, and although Tony would like to declare what he really thinks about Odin, he shuts up, because he really doesn’t want to wrestle with Thor without his suit. “I know,” Thor says it again, now a lot more quietly and softly, then sighs and continues. “Every day that I spend with my baby brother I discover more and more ways how our father failed him. How we all failed him. And he has not even hit his critical age yet. He was…” he shakes his head, like he couldn’t say what he wanted or thought better of it. “I just hope that I can do better with him now that we have got another chance.”

 

“I think you’ve been doing a great job so far,” Steve pats his rock of a bicep kindly, without breaking his fingers or even wincing and Tony is quite envious. He wants to feel up that killer body too, without seriously damaging himself.

 

“Thank you, Steven.”

 

“Will you tell us now what happened after you arrived at Helheim? How is Loki this sweet kid now?” Steve inquires and Thor nods.

 

“Yes, of course. When I arrived at Helheim, Fenrir, Hela’s giant pet wolf was waiting for me at the gates. He guided me through the land, leading me to Hela and protecting me from the Dead. When I arrived at Hela’s castle I found her on her throne with a newborn babe on her chest. She was feeding him. I promptly recognized my brother from his dark hair and green eyes but I did not understand how he got to be a babe again. She told me she needed to make Loki a new body since his former one…” A grave expression clouds Thor’s face and he shakes his head again. “We don’t know where it is or what happened to it after the Titan made our ship explode. I don’t know how she made him a new body and she did not tell me. She only told me that Loki was now a babe and that I needed to treat him as such. And if I didn’t want him anymore I could just give him back to the Jotunn. But of course, I still wanted him since I don’t care what kind of body Loki has, as he is still my brother and I love him dearly. So she put the babe into my arms and told me that I needed to leave the Realm immediately, since it was no place for a child. She also told me that I should not be surprised if he will not age as normal children, since although his body is new his soul is still the old one, so the body would catch up with it rather sooner than later, thanks to his magic. As his body will grow his memories will come back, as well. That is how my Loki is now a five-year-old instead of the four month old babe that his body really is. Hela sent us back to the gates and I started to climb again with my baby brother in tow now. It was not so dangerous anymore because the guarding creatures were dead or gravely injured and still healing, but a lot harder, since I had to protect my little one and I know nothing of babes and how to tend to them properly. But after a little while everything came as instinct and we made our way up to the higher branches rather fastly. Loki was a sweetheart throughout. He’s never cried if he was not in distress, he slept at night and babbled commentaries about our adventures in his babe language while we traveled.”

 

“But how did you feed him?” Tony asks, still processing the tale he’s just heard. “Such a little child needs to be…”

 

“Breastfed, of course,” Thor says, grinning wide after he sees the dumbfounded expressions on their faces. “Do not look at me like that, my friends. I know that you, mortal men are incapable of doing so, but among my people and on some other realms it is quite natural if we need to tend to a newborn by ourselves.”

 

“Okay, but I really don’t understand the biology behind this so we will just say it’s magic,” Tony answers, still a little bit dazed, while he glances toward the Loki-Bucky duo. The kid’s face is radiating pure delight as Bucky shows him how to high-five a completely blissed out Dum-E who chirps and whirs excitedly. That little shit loves children like no one Tony’s ever known. Probably because he himself was just a lonely kid when Dum-E was born…

 

Thor’s face is dominated by a fond expression while he watches the kid and Tony could weep he is so happy for the thunderer. He deserves some happiness and peace like no other and maybe getting back his baby brother will heal the wounds on his soul like nothing and no one else could. The progress is excellent so far.

 

“And where have you guys been until now, Thor?” Steve asks after his mind comes back from the breastfeeding-shock. He smiles fondly at the duo, too, although his smile might be directed towards his better half a little bit more than Loki. “We were pretty worried that we’d have seen the last of you after you just disappeared one day, you know?”

 

“Your worry about me is highly appreciated, my friend.” Thor pats Steve’s right thigh and Tony is grateful he hasn’t attempted to do so with him so far because even Steve winces a little, so Tony might have a broken femur by now.

 

“We stayed on Vanaheim, we have an aunt there, my mother’s sister, the Queen of the Vanir. She was always fond of us, especially Loki. But her people… Well… Most of them were really glad to see us again, especially Loki, since they got to know somehow that under the last two years of Asgard he was impersonating Odin on the throne so he was the one who granted them independency after so long… They mourned him after his death and even made a statue of him in his armor, his helmet on, with the big, bendy horns and all,” he smiles fondly at the little boy, who is giggling cutely as Butterfingers pats his head gently. “But not all were happy with our presence. Some were still bitter – rightfully so – about Odin’s despotism and how to avenge the millennia spent in tyranny in a better way than assassinating the oppressor’s children? So it is a good thing that Loki’s sensitivity to everything magical is very high despite his young age since if he did not tell me his apple water had smelled funny and he felt sick of it, we both would be dead by now. There was a magical poison in it just like in my wine. So after this incident my aunt told me that although she loved having us there with her we would be better off somewhere safer until everyone calmed down. So, of course, I thought of you, my friends, and this home of ours so as soon as we gathered our belongings, I brought us here.” Finishing his explanation Thor pats both of their legs and Tony is pretty glad to notice that he is considerably gentler with him than with Steve who he makes wince again. So the little shit is perfectly aware of his strength and does it on purpose… Tony’s always known Thor was his favorite Avenger.

 

“We’re glad to have you two here, Thor. You should have come here in the first place. I don’t know how safe this place is but we would never stand for anything bad to happen to a child,” Steve reassures him and Thor grins at him wildly.

 

“I know that. But first I thought that it would be better for Loki to grow up in a somewhat familiar place but… His safety is what matters to me the most. I would never let anything bad happen to him ever again.”

 

And perfectly on clue there is a little black-green energy ball that races towards him then throws himself against his legs to cuddle them tightly.

 

“Thor, can I have a roo-bot, too? They are so adorable!” little Loki twitters excitedly as Thor takes him into his lap gently.

 

“They called robots, baby, and I do not know. Perhaps you should talk with our Anthony about it. They are not pets but his faithful helpers.”

 

They are actually pets, Tony thinks but doesn’t say it since he doesn’t want to confuse the little boy even more.

 

Loki glances at Tony and nods.

 

“Sir Tony, did you really make them?”

 

“Sure, I did, little one.”

 

“Are they your friends?”

 

“In a way, yes, they are.”

 

“Then I wish I could make one to myself, too. I do not have friends. I only have Thor.”

 

Well, well, well, look at this manipulative little demon. He couldn’t deny he is the miniature version of his older self even if he tried. But at least little Loki is cute about it, while older Loki was just mean. And since Tony’s already decided that he will spoil the kid rotten when he first saw those big, innocent, intelligent eyes of his…

 

“You know, champ, I actually really like to make robots and since you really want one I don’t see why I couldn’t make one just for you. But I’m afraid I will need your help with it so it will be perfect for you. What do you say?”

 

“Sure. I can help you when I will not be too busy,” little Loki nods seriously and Tony almost can’t stop a delighted snicker that wants to bubble up in his chest at the mighty expression on the little prince’s cute face. Instead, he grins just like the other adults in the shop.

 

“Mr. Stark!”

 

There would be a big commotion between the entrance door and the wall if Tony’s workshop had a regular door but since it’s an automatized glass door commanded by Friday for whomever Tony’s given the access to the room, Peter once just materializes from thin air and yells Tony’s name in greeting like always. But as soon as he notices the other occupants of the shop his eyes widen and he has to greet every and each one of the present people by name, too, of course.

 

“Hello, Captain Rogers! Hi, Mr. Barnes! Good evening, Mr. Thor! And… And… Oh my… Oh my God! Is that… OH MY GOD! Well… Well, hello there, little Mr. Loki! It’s so good the see you alive even if you are little now. How did you…”

 

“Peter, we are delighted to have you among us, but please cease the yelling, you’re scaring the little guy” Tony interrupts the noisy teenager, who is almost bouncing on his tiptoes with excitement and with one hand waves toward the kid who actually looks really frightened while he snuggles up to his brother who cuddles him back with a fond expression on his face. Seems like little Loki is a little bit shy when he first meets people but after he realizes he is safe among them he is a real doll.

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. You don’t have to be afraid of me, little Mr. Prince Loki, you’re the cutest and I would never hurt you.” Peter comes closer to the couch and bends a little before the cuddling brothers so his head is almost on the same level as Loki’s. “I’m Peter Parker, Spider-man, but you can call me Peter if you would like,” he smiles wildly while the little prince examines him with a searching gaze. After he silently comes to a conclusion about Peter’s character, he nods but frowns confusedly.

 

“I do not like spiders,” he murmurs quietly.

 

“Geez, I know. They are gross, aren’t they?” Peter agrees exhaustedly. “I hate them, too.”

 

“But you are a man of them?!” Loki asks, perfectly dumbfounded and a little bit outraged in a way that only little kids could be.

 

“Well, yes? Kind of… But I wasn’t born one of them, I swear. It was just a little bit of an accident and… Well, now I have super strength and can walk on the walls. That’s all.”

 

“Thor is very strong, too,” little Loki chimes in very helpfully, like no one has ever noticed it. It’s cute.

 

“Well, I’m not as strong as him, but…”

 

“Of course, you are little.”

 

Oh, okay. Seems like Loki had that tongue of his even when he was but an infant. That is really quite adorable.

 

“Hey!” Peter yelps, offended, but the other adults just snicker at the uncalled commentary.

 

“What did you want from Tony, Peter?” Steve asks the still pouting teen, a pretty smile on his face.

 

“Oh! I came to tell you Dr. Banner finished dinner, so it’s…”

 

“Don’t say it! Don’t you say it!” Tony warns with a hopeless whine. He knows it’s for naught already.

 

“It’s family bonding time!” Peter cheers happily and while Tony rolls his eyes Steve turns to their littlest companion.

 

“Hey, little buddy, are you hungry?”

 

Loki nods.

 

“Verily.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little Loki meets the other Avengers, but he's actally just very hungry and sleepy. Thor gets a little love from his teammates, because our big boy deserves it, too. 
> 
>  
> 
> Warning for discussion of a suicidal attempt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guuuys!!! OMG! Thank you so much for your kudos and comments! I really didn't think I would get such positive feedback when I posted the first chapter. You are all awesome!

Thor has got a lot of friends, Loki concludes as his brother raises from the strange bed that he was sitting on until now and starts to follow Sir Tony towards the exit of the room with him in his arms so he could be delivered to their destination like this. It’s not like Loki couldn’t be placed on the floor and walk on his own – he is not a babe, he is almost five years old already – but it’s so much faster and more comfortable to travel in his brother’s arms, so he doesn’t complain. And he is tired. He is so, so tired. If they were still on Vanaheim with Auntie Freya it would be way past his bedtime by now. But since they are on Midgard now and it seems like it’s only dinner time here, he can’t sleep just yet, but he won’t complain about it. He is really very hungry. And he wants apple tart. Do they have apple tarts on Midgard? He hopes so.

 

“Are you sleepy, brother?” Well, it seems like he doesn’t even need to complain because Thor notices his fatigue, anyway. It’s strange how much more attentive big Thor is than little Thor was. He sometimes misses his little big brother, but he loves his big big brother, too, and he understands that they are actually the same person and not so long ago he was big as well, but something very bad happened so now he is little again. Thor told him he will remember to everything when he will be old enough, so although he is still curious about what happened, he doesn’t really want to know. He is sure it’s something terrible since they cannot go home, to Asgard. He hopes Mother is well. He misses her, too.

 

“A little,” Loki answers when they stop before a very curious looking metal wall. Oh, it’s opened! And there is a very little room behind it without any furniture in it. “But hungry more.”

 

Thor chuckles a little and pats his back.

 

“We will eat soon, little one, don’t you worry. You will love Midgardian dishes, I promise. And Bruce is an excellent cook.”

 

“That he is,” Sir Tony says as he walks into the little room. They go after him with Spider Peter but Sir Steve and Sir James stay outside.

 

“Yo, super boys, are you coming with us or exercising a little?” Sir Tony asks them with a little smirk and Sir James exchanges a mischievous glance with Sir Steve.

 

“Race you to the kitchen, punk!” Sir James yells then he is off, running to somewhere that looks like a staircase.

 

“Hey, you dirty cheater!” Sir Steve screams after him, but he is off, too, running after Sir James with surprising speed.

 

What are they doing? Playing tag? Oh, that is exciting! Maybe sometime Loki could play with them, too? He’s never played it before, but he saw the other kids playing it and it looked funny. He asked Thor once to play it with him, but little Thor liked to play ‘rescue’ more so they played that, like usually. But it was okay, Loki loved to play with his brother.

 

“Those two are ridiculous,” Sir Tony mumbles.

 

“Hey, they’re really sweet,” Spider Peter pouts and Loki has to agree with him. They seem very nice and kind. “And it’s good to see that Mr. Barnes feels so much better now. They’re good for each other.”

 

“Yes, I noticed that, too. I am gladdened to see that eventually they worked out their problems with each other. And you with them, Anthony,” Thor agrees and Loki has to chuckle a little. His brother has got such a deep voice now that his chest and neck vibrate with it and it tickles where Loki is pressed up to him.

 

“Well, we had to since now we all live together here and all. They’re good boys and really ridiculously sweet with big, puppy dog eyes, and serious PTSD so there is just so much begging for forgiveness a guy can stand without yielding. Especially after his ass was saved by one of them. “And I was no saint either, so…” Sir Tony shrugs his shoulders, apparently finished with his explanation. “To the communal floor, please, Friday.”

 

“Of course, boss,” something says in a nice, feminine voice and then the metal door closes and something really strange happens that Loki can feel in his belly. It’s not really unpleasant but really weird. It feels a little bit like when their airships take off of the ground.

 

“Thor, what was that voice? What is happening?” he chimes in and he knows he sounds a little bit scared although the other three people in the little room seem perfectly content so it’s obvious that nothing bad is happening, but… It is just weird. And he is actually scared. Just a little bit, but still…

 

“Oh, it is alright, dearest. The voice was Friday, she is kind of a robot, too, but without an actual body. She is everywhere in this building and you can ask anything from her she will answer. And this little room is a device called elevator that you can use to travel in a tall building fastly. It is very useful.”

 

Oh, okay then.

 

The weird feeling in his belly ceases soon and the door opens up again. There is a very big, bright room behind it with more strange beds, weird, throne-like, puffy chairs, a big, black glass on the wall and a large, fluffy carpet on the floor. It looks nice but odd. Why is everything so strange on Midgard?

 

“Tony, is that you?” comes an unfamiliar, male voice from a place that Loki can’t see yet. Its owner sounds kind. “I swear like half an hour ago I heard some thundering and since the sky is clear I thought that probably Thor… But I guess since nothing happened after that it was just… Oh!” The man comes into view from behind a corner and he indeed appears nice, but really, really confused. His eyes are wide and his mouth is hanging open without any sound coming out of it. He looks a bit funny, too, like this.

 

“Of course it’s me, Brucie. And look who I found in my shop. Our own lost little thunder god and his very mighty baby brother. Say hi to them nicely!” Sir Tony says cheerily and the new man (Bucie? Bruty?) closes his mouth slowly and blinks rapidly to wipe the awe away from his eyes.

 

“T… Thor! You are back! Oh… oh my… And you… you brought Loki… Like a child… Is that really him? How?” The man still seems a little bit dumbfounded, but he inches toward them, anyway, so Loki is sure he will be fine, eventually.

 

“Hi, Banner!” Thor greets the man with a grin when he arrives closer to them. “What do you say, will Hulk be delighted to see my brother alive and well?” he bounces Loki on his hip lightly.

 

“He will be ecstatic, Thor. So am I. Does he remember...”

 

“No, but he will.”

 

So big Loki had known this man, too, Loki presumes. Where they friends? What is a Hulk?

 

“That is… That is good. Oh… Oh my God! But… how?” The brown-haired man still seems uncomprehending and Thor pats his shoulder with the hand he doesn’t use to hold Loki.

 

“I will tell you everything, my friend, while we dine. And to the others, too, of course,” Thor nods in greeting at some other new people who appeared from nowhere while Loki wasn’t paying attention. But he really cannot be blamed for it, he is truly very hungry. Can’t they eat yet? At this point, he would eat anything. Well, okay, maybe not fish. He definitely doesn’t want to eat fish. Or boar. Or rabbit, deer, carrot, pear… and peach! No peach, please!

 

“Thor, I am starving and feel very bad,” he gently reminds his brother, who chuckles a little then gives him a soft kiss on his forehead.

 

“Oh, you poor babe. Then we shall eat. We do not want you to stay so little until eternity.”

 

He is not so little, Thor is too big, obviously. But he doesn’t have the strength to disagree with his brother right now. Probably after he ate, he will.

 

He watches all of the stranger adults as Thor carries him into another room that opens from the one they were in previously and has a big table in it. One woman and two men. They don’t look scary but Loki doesn’t like the way they’re staring back at him. Like he is some kind of a freak. Or a monster. But Loki is not a monster. Frost giants are monsters and Loki is not a frost giant. So he rather hides his face into his brother’s neck as he sits at the table and waits to be feed already before he starves to death. Which is in moments, so…

 

**

 

The kid is a precious, sweet, sweet cupcake and Tony wants one to himself.

 

But he also feels like this one would be a handful on his own, actually…

 

He isn’t very hungry, so in normal circumstances he wouldn’t have come up from his workshop for dinner – no matter how much he loves Bruce’s cooking and how much Peter and Steve would have pouted – but for the dumbfounded faces that his teammates presented at the sight of the child it was worth it so damn much. Well, yeah, okay, he is still processing the news, too, but it was funny, nonetheless.

 

After they all sat in their usual seats at the table – the most of them still completely dazed – and their two favorite Brooklyn boys arrived – ran in – while almost turning over the table with their momentum, the ice breaks slowly but surely.

 

“First!” Steve declares with a large grin on his face that almost goes on from one ear to the other. The little shit doesn’t even pant. Tc, fucker.

 

“You pushed me down the stairs!” Bucky complains with an indignant yell and bumps his right shoulder with Steve’s left as he goes to sit down onto his chair, next to Nat. And he starts to sulk.

 

Oh-oh, someone is in trouble.

 

“It was just one! And you started it!” With his whined, defensive words Steve earns himself a deeper frown and a more pronounced pout. Good job, buddy!

 

Hah, he is in so much trouble!

 

While a very guilty looking Steve takes his seat next to his still upset better half, Natasha pats Bucky’s shoulder comfortingly, but her gaze is still on little Loki. Now, she starts to cease looking awed and a rather suspicious expression overcasts her face.

 

NO! Oh, no! Please don’t ask if it’s a trick or a scheme. Please, don’t.

 

Tony might have made a mistake by coming up here. He really doesn’t want to see any more drama today after all that he’s already witnessed. And he wants to see Thor’s betrayed, crestfallen face even less.

 

But surprisingly enough, Nat stays quiet and bites her lower lip in concentration as she locks gaze with the little prince who rather bravely stares back at her with those large eyes of his and – horror! – she looks quite uncertain. Which is pretty strange in the aspect of that Tony’s never seen Nat wearing so many expressions in so little time but actually perfectly natural in the light of the fact that she is a sucker for kids and even though adult Loki was one of her least favorite people, kid Loki is a ridiculously adorable child, so… Yeah. There is a serious inner conflict in her, Tony can see it in her eyes, but hey, we should let bygones be bygones and not hold old grudges ‘til the grave against torture victims whose only actions against us were directed by a megalomaniac. If anyone Tony can understand her completely, being thrown out of his own tower’s window by the trickster and all, but he is adult enough to acknowledge how stupid it would be to blame an innocent child for the actions of his slightly mind controlled and tortured adult self.

 

He’s on the edge of saying something probably not very clever in the lingering tense atmosphere – yeah, even Peter is silent, that never means good –, when Nat breaks eye-contact with the little boy, looks over at Clint who still seems rather puzzled instead of angry or menacing, then back at Loki again and her hard expression softens spectacularly and a genuine, real smile appears on her lips.

 

“Hi there, lovely eyes! My, aren’t you a pretty one? How did you make those beautiful curls of yours? I’ve always wanted ones like those,” she asks the kid in a kind tone and Tony feels his body finally relaxes. Well, at least for now. They still have a Clint and a Sam to go.

 

“I did nothing. They are natural. But I thank you. You are very pretty, too,” the little flatterer mumbles then shyes back into his brother’s arms, arranging them around himself so they cover the most of his tiny body. Although he has nothing to be afraid of since everyone smiles or giggles at his adorable praise, even Clint’s lips twist into an unconscious half-grin. Thor squeezes his embrace around him a little and kisses his forehead, while Bruce puts a big, steaming bowl of pasta onto the already set table and sits at the table next to Tony.

 

“I can see that you are a little gentleman, so you can call me Natasha or Nat. And those silent men over there are Clint and Sam. They aren’t so silent all the time, mind you, but cat stole their tongue seeing how adorable you are.”

 

“Cat?” the little prince perks up suddenly. “I have seen cats already. I love them.”

 

“Then you and T’Challa would be very good buddies. He adores cats, too,” Sam speaks up eventually with a little smirk on his face. Oh, this little shit…

 

“Well, he is one of them, so…” Bucky chimes in very helpfully, and the little boy’s big eyes immediately get even larger in surprise.

 

“T… Chal? Is he a cat? Is he here, too?”

 

“T’Challa. And he is not really a cat, baby,” Thor says finally, as he helps himself to some of the food and sends the two troublemakers a warning glare although they still have the cheek to snicker at their stupid inside joke despite of it. “But he has got a very nice cat suit that helps him to stop bad people doing bad things. He leaves in another province of Midgard, so you cannot meet him now, but sometimes he stops by here, so I am sure you two will meet eventually.”

 

Loki stays silent for a little while, looking once at Bucky and once at Sam with a prominent little frown on his face. He doesn’t look very happy with the two little oafs who at last realized their mistake – misleading a child, even if it was unintentional – judging by their guilty expressions.

 

“So… there are no cats here?” the kid pouts and it’s really a heartbreaking sight for Tony, so he needs to reassure the little boy somehow, and fast, before Peter – who has already opened his mouth to say something surely very cute but unhelpful – tries something.

 

“Hey, little guy,” he addresses Loki quickly, drawing the kid’s attention to himself. Those large, emerald eyes shine at him sadly. “Do you remember what I promised you? That I’ll build you a robot?”

 

Loki nods and he continues.

 

“Well, what would you say if we made a super, very pretty and shiny robot cat? Wouldn’t that be awesome?” he grins hopefully at the kid as almost everyone in the room holds their breaths, waiting for the little boy’s answer.

 

Loki considers him for some seconds, but soon he smiles sweetly and nods.

 

“That would be really awesome, Sir Tony!”

 

**

 

“Do you need to pee, Loki?”

 

“No.”

 

“But you did not pee since morning.”

 

“Everybody does not need to know that.”

 

**

 

“You do not have to sit in my lap, if you do not want to, Loki. You can have a seat of your own like when we were with Auntie Freya.”

 

“No.”

 

“But you can feed yourself, at least like big boys…”

 

“I do not want to.”

 

**

 

“Thor, what is this? It tastes strange.”

 

“It is called pasta, dearest. It is a Midgardian dish.”

 

“It is not bad.”

 

**

 

“Thor, what is that?”

 

“It is meat, sweetheart.”

 

“What kind of meat?”

 

“It called chicken. It is healthy.”

 

“It does not taste good.”

 

“Come on, baby, it is full of protein, it helps you to grow big.”

 

“I do not want it.”

 

**

 

“Thor, can I have apple tart instead?”

 

“I do not think we have apple tart right now. And you need to eat real food sometimes, my little one.”

 

“Apple tart is real food, too, since I eat it.”

 

“It is a dessert, Loki. You eat it after main dishes.”

 

“But I do not like main dishes. I like apple tart.”

 

 

**

 

“Thor, can I have an apple, at least?”

 

“You cannot eat only sweets and apple all the time, Loki, it is not good for you.”

 

“Why?”

 

“It is unhealthy. Come on, just a little bit more, dearest. After that we can go to sleep.”

 

**

 

“THOR, IS THAT THING CHEESE?”

 

“Yes, Loki, it is melted, but…”

 

“No!”

 

“Loki, it is delicious, you should just try…”

 

“NO!”

 

**

 

“Well, he is a little bit picky, isn’t he?” Tony asks Thor after he finished telling the tale of his journey once again – the previous little conversations between him and his little bro interrupting it here and there – while the others try to process their thunder boy’s words, still nibbling on their dinners absentmindedly. Though Tony can’t blame them for it, the little tale is a big wow even for second hearing, and even after all the things he’s already seen in his not so short life.

 

Thor’s given up the struggle that was feeding his baby brother some of the pasta a little while ago and now the kid is adorably sleeping in his lap – after he somehow managed to completely cocoon himself between his arms.

 

“Oh, yes, he is. A lot, actually. Usually he is not so vocal about it, but I guess he was very tired by now. He still naps in the afternoons, usually, although I’m trying to get him to quit it slowly. But he loves his beauty sleep quite a lot,” Thor answers with a fond smile on his lips, then kisses the slumbering kid’s tangled curls. “And if it would be up to him he would only eat sweets and desserts. The only healthy thing he likes to eat is apple. He hates all vegetables with passion and only eats other fruits when really necessary. Although not peach. He hates them more than anything for some reason. And he only eats a really little amount of meat. But fish is a big no-no, again.”

 

“Then what does he eat?” Steve asks the ultimate question. Sometime during dinner he made up with Bucky somehow and now they are holding each other’s hand on top of the table contently like the cute little lovebirds that they are.

 

“Bread. With marmalade or honey. He loves pies and tarts from apple, too. Sometimes he eats a little bit of meat with potato. Although he can be bribed with the promise of his favorite things if he eats some normal food,” Thor grins widely, but seeing the dumbfounded expressions on most of their faces, he chuckles then shrugs his shoulders lightly so he won’t disturb his little boy. “It is not as bad as it seems first, my friends, really. He was like this the first time around, too, just like me. We made our poor Mother weep on countless occasions. But do not worry, friends, we both grew out of it when we were a few years older and started to train regularly and needed the energy,” Thor reassures them with that big grin of his.

 

“You see, Brucie dear, you don’t have to be so sullen, it wasn’t your cooking that the little prince rebelled against,” Tony pats his co-scientist’s shoulder.

 

“That is really good to know, Tony, but…” Bruce starts, then takes a huge breath before he continues. “Thor, are you really telling the truth? You went after him to the afterlife, fought the most dangerous creatures that live in the universe alone and… Oh my God!” his voice goes almost comically high as his eyes widen in a terrible realization. “It was a suicide attempt in the first place, wasn’t it?!”

 

“It was not, of course, I just wanted him back,” Thor states defensively while avoiding all of their gazes at all cost and tenderly caressing the little boy’s back, lulling him into a deeper sleep.

 

“Thor, look at me, please,” Bruce pleads the deity after some seconds of a very tense silence. Thor obliges, raising his gaze at Bruce. His azure eye shines with guilt and the contrast to his amber one is striking.

 

“I know that you didn’t go there to die, exactly, but you wouldn’t have minded it terribly much if your expedition wouldn’t have been successful so you could have gone after your family, right?” Bruce inquires hesitantly, slowly, like he thinks out every word that comes out of his mouth with the utmost care, actually not really wanting to believe what he is presuming. Although the answer to his question is pretty obvious as much to him as to everyone else in the room.

 

“I went with every intention to bring Loki back or stay there with him and Mother, yes. Like I have said it already, friends, I did not have anything to lose with this journey,” he says with a sad little smile on his lips and Tony wants to weep at the sight. It’s not good to see their usually cheerful, energetic thunder god so broken. Tony horribly regrets that he didn’t pay a little bit more attention to his friend before his journey, although he himself was in a pretty bad place back then after parting ways with Pepper for good this time. If nothing else the kicked puppy look that the god rocked everywhere he went would have been more than enough of a sign that he was in a very bad place himself, but… Well, everyone was, actually. Obviously not as much as their deity, but just enough to be total and complete, inattentive jerks.

 

“Yeah, only your life,” Tony mumbles quietly, his gaze firmly on the little boy who sleeps on peacefully, not even having the littles clue how suffocating the atmosphere in the room was around him.

 

“I did not have much of a life back then, Anthony. But now, with Loki being back with me, I feel like a have a purpose again. Raising him up properly this time and giving him back everything that once was taken away from him,” Thor murmurs as he caresses the little prince’s pretty, black curls with his right hand.

 

“We would have missed you terribly, Thor, if you’d have stayed down there,” Steve says with his best kicked puppy expression displaying on his face. He and Thor are bros on an extraordinarily high level and Tony is sure as hell he would have been devastated if he’d have lost Thor, too, after he’s already lost so many people in his not so long life.

 

“I would have missed you, too, Steven, but you have to understand…”

 

“We understand, sweetheart,” Natasha interrupts, petting the big guy’s golden locks gently with his right hand and Thor moves into her touch unconsciously. Nat has some very serious motherly instincts when it comes to her boys and their physical and mental wellbeing, but don’t tell her that Tony noticed it, because she would sulk. And a sulky Nat is a dangerous Nat. “But please, if you feel so bad again, just find one of us, okay? You don’t have to suffer alone.”

 

Thor’s smile is still sad while he nods his understanding but the look in his eyes is not so lost anymore, fortunately. Tony sincerely hopes that he really understood Natasha’s advice and will remember about it even when the time comes.

 

“You are like his dad now, right?” Peter cannot contain himself anymore and chimes in with uncalled cheerfulness, smiling at the kid widely. Even Tony wouldn’t have been able to pretend such joyfulness in a time like this, but it seems like Peter’s spidey senses detected what is the exact thing that Thor needs to hear right now, because a large grin appears on the god’s face immediately.

 

“Yes, kind of. But do not tell him that, he would get offended.”

 

“I don’t think so. You are a very good dad for him. And he adores you.”

 

“I’m trying,” he smiles down at the slumbering little angel and caresses his soft baby face with one of his fingers carefully.

 

“I…” There is a high, grating sound as Clint abruptly stands up from the table, drawing everyone’s attention to himself, but for some long moments he just stands there awkwardly, dragging his agitated gaze from one person to the other. Eventually, he looks at Thor and swallows before he starts to speak again. “Thor, I’m… I’m very happy for you. I’m glad you’ve got him back. And I… He is a kid. A really nice kid, really. And I… I’m okay with this. I’m okay with him being here. Hell, he is more than welcome to be here. But I… I just need a little time to… Sorry!” And he is out of the kitchen before anyone could say anything to calm him down a little, leaving a bunch of dazed Avengers in his wake.

 

Oh, shit! This is the exact reaction that Tony was afraid of having from Clint. The poor guy…

 

“My friends, did I make a mistake by bringing my Loki here?” Thor asks in a small voice after some seconds of a heavy, unpleasant silence. He avoids their eyes again and Tony wants to slap that silly little head of his for being an idiot, but before he could do or say anything impulsive, Sam speaks up in a kind, comforting tone.

 

“No, man, you didn’t do anything wrong. He is upset and confused now a little but it won’t be for long, I promise. He hasn’t even been blaming adult Loki for that mind-control fuckery thing for a long time now. He will be best buddies with your kid in a little while, you will see. But now I should go after him, I guess.” He stands from the table, too. “Thanks for dinner,” he says as he puts his dirty plate and cutlery into the dishwasher then strides out of the kitchen as well.

 

“I think I will go after them, too,” Natasha twitters, getting up, too, then bends down to press a gentle kiss on Thor’s forehead. “You go and put your little charge in bed, big guy. He’s got a lot of growing to do yet. And while you are at it you can escort Tony to his penthouse, since he hasn’t slept in two days,” she grins at Tony prettily as an ugly frown gathers itself on said genius’s face.

 

“But mom, I wanted to go back to the shop,” he whines while dramatically pouting his lower lip.

 

“I know, that’s why I asked Thor to take you to your floor. And Peter,” she turns toward the suspiciously silent teen. “You should have been home half an hour ago.”

 

Peter’s eyes widen in unbelieving surprise as he hurriedly takes out his phone from the pocket of his jeans.

 

“Oh, crap!” he jumps up from his seat. “I’m dead. Good night, everyone! It was good to know you,” he rambles as he actually runs out of the room.

 

Tony watches him go with an amused smirk, then turns back toward Natasha.

 

“At least I can help Bruce to tidy up the kitchen…”

 

“You don’t need to. Steve and Bucky have already offered to help him.”

 

“Yes, mom!” The two super boys chirp in unison then hops up from the table to do as they were bid while Natasha waves them good night and leaves.

 

Tony rolls his eyes, but gets up from his chair, anyway, as the others do so, too, and follows a very carefully walking Thor to the elevator.

 

“Your floor is as you left it, big guy,” he informs Thor as they wait for the elevator door to open. “Will you need a plus bed to be put in your bedroom? Or will he sleep in the guest room?”

 

“No, thank you. He will sleep with me for now. He has quite a lot of nightmares and he is very confused after them usually, so it is better if I am there when he wakes. And we were sleeping together until he was ten, anyway.”

 

The elevator arrives and they get in.

 

“Oh, okay then.”

 

As the elevator starts to move little Loki stirs and squeezes his tiny hands on his brother’s biceps, then opens his foggy eyes slowly.

 

“Thor?” he mumbles, blinking heavily.

 

“I’m here, little one. What is it?” Thor whispers back, pecking his adorable little nose.

 

When Loki’s eyes focus on Tony, at last, he smiles at him warmly. The little boy looks a little bit disorientated and as soon as he realizes he is not alone with his brother, he sends a sullen look at Tony, then hides his pouty little face into his brother’s neck. Tony just smiles wider and doesn’t take the dismissive gesture to heart; the kid is obviously very exhausted and just wants to sleep.

 

“Did you dream with big Loki again, dearest?”

 

“I do not know,” Loki answers in a quiet mumble. “There was just darkness around me. I was cold. Scared and angry. And very, very sad. Why am I always sad in my dreams, Thor?”

 

The smile instantly melts from Tony’s face as he locks gaze with a very worried looking god over the little boy’s head.

 

Thor swallows thickly then kisses his kid’s forehead.

 

“They are just dreams, sweetheart. Everything is alright. I will not let anyone or anything hurt you, okay?”

 

The kid nods although Tony is not sure he heard or understood his brother’s previous words very much, since in seconds his breathing evens out again, indicating he is back to dreamland already. Which is apparently not a very pretty place for the poor little guy.

 

They arrive at the penthouse in the next moment, but Tony is quite reluctant to leave the brothers alone. But he can’t find anything in his mind to say for once so he sighs and turns toward Thor completely.

 

“Well, good night, you two. If you need anything, Thor, you know where to find me. And by anything I mean anything, really. And anytime. Okay?” He waits until Thor nods with a wan smile, then steps out of the elevator.

 

“Anthony!” Thor calls after him when Tony starts to walk away. He turns back toward them quickly as Friday holds the door open like the clever little girl that she is.

 

“Yes?”

 

“I just would like to thank you for being so kind to my brother, despite…”

 

“Thor, please,” he interrupts the god, who frowns at him in silent disapproval. “He is just an innocent kid now. And anyway, I believe in second chances, buddy. And I think your baby brother deserves one more than anyone.”

 

The disapproval fades from Thor’s face immediately, as he understands Tony’s words and a sincere smile appears on his face; the kind that transforms even his eyes into little crescents.

 

“Yes, he does. But I still thank you.”

 

“You are very welcome then, big guy.”

 

Tony watches as Friday closes the elevator door, sensing the end of their conversation. The silence that abruptly washes over him is actually deafening and he hates it. He hates being here. Alone.

 

“Boss, are you alright?” Friday inquires after some minutes in which he just stood there, staring at the closed elevator door.

 

“Yes, Fri, don’t you worry,” he sighs and turns around to look over his empty living room. He doesn’t want to be here. He hasn’t been in his penthouse in the last two weeks and even then he didn’t sleep here, he was just searching for the Maserati’s keys.

 

He hasn’t been sleeping here, since…

 

“What do you think, how mad Nat would be at me if I went back to the shop?” Tony asks his AI, although he already started to inch toward his bathroom to take a quick shower.

 

“I would advise you against it, Sir.”

 

“I thought so,” he sighs again, closing the bathroom door after himself. “The couch it is, then.”

 

Because he won’t sleep in _their_ bed, that is for sure.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony has to wake up way too early but he doesn't mind it in the end. Loki is a little bit scared but not for long.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! Thank you so much for the kudos and comments, they mean everything to me. You are all awesome and I love you! 
> 
> Sorry for the long wait, life happened... But I've got a beta now! Thank you, Mettamom999, for editing this chapter!

“Boss…”

 

Tony groans and turns onto his back, trying to shield his eyes with his right arm from the unpleasant brightness of the room. Why is his living room swimming in light? Is it morning already?

 

“Boss, you know I hate to wake you up when you were finally sleeping, but I’m afraid there is a situation in your bathroom that needs your immediate attention.”

 

“Whatimzit?” he asks, perfectly inaudible, after he processed Friday’s words. Mostly… But his AI understands him, nonetheless.

 

“It’s 6:37 in the morning,” comes Friday’s urgent reply and Tony groans again.

 

“Fri, baby girl, let daddy sleep for a few more hours, okay? And off with you to bed, too. It’s way too early for baby AI-s to be up and about,” he murmurs, still without opening his eyes.

 

At his words Friday sighs – she actually _sighs_ , and just who programmed her to do that? – then there is a lone, loud siren sound that almost makes Tony fall off the couch. Fortunately, he’s got pretty good reflexes even in a half-sleeping state, so he doesn’t fall, but now he is in a sitting position, clinging to the cushion of the couch with a death-grip.

 

“Geez, Fri, what…”

 

“Mr. Stark! Your immediate attention is needed in your bathroom, please get up and present yourself there in the next half minute.” The AI sounds beyond annoyed and Tony is surprised enough with his obnoxious rouse to ignore her emotional anomalies.

 

He pushes the fluffy comforter off himself as he sits up completely.

 

“Okay, okay, I’m coming,” he mumbles as he gets up from the couch and stretches out his limbs and back. “Geez, you’re a bossy little bitch in the mornings, baby girl,” he complains while he starts to toddle toward the floor’s main bathroom, sleepily fisting once his right eye then the left, attempting to chase away the foggy edges of his vision.

 

“And you are mean and grumpy, boss,” Friday answers him cheekily and Tony almost chuckles at her sass. Almost. He won’t encourage her rebellious phase, but he loves her witty responses all the same.

 

“Yes, we’re an exceptional duo,” he murmurs as he arrives at the closed bathroom door and instantly gets alarmed by the sounds that are coming from behind it. It almost sounds like…

 

“Friday, why am I hearing sobbing from my bathroom?”

 

“Well, obviously that is the situation I was telling you about, boss. It is young master Loki.”

 

“What?” Tony almost bumps his head on the door in his surprise. “Fri, what is Loki doing here? And why didn’t you tell me sooner?”

 

When his only answer is a pointed, disapproving silence, he shakes himself awake completely and slowly opens the door, not wanting to frighten the obviously already upset little boy even more.

 

Little Loki sits in his dry bathtub, wearing one of Thor’s tees as an actual nightgown, his tiny arms around his knees, hugging them to his heaving chest as he sobs into them quietly. His pretty, black curls are in complete disarray around his flushed, wet little face. Tony’s never seen a more heartbreaking thing in his whole life and the growling sound that unconsciously bubbles up from his chest indicates his displeasure perfectly.

 

The kid instantly looks up at the strange noise and noticing Tony he begins a heavier weeping.

 

“S… Thon,” he sobs sorrowfully and Tony doesn’t need more to rush next to the tub and bending down he gently takes the shaking kid into his arms. He is surprisingly light, but… Well, Tony hasn’t held a lot of five-year-olds in his life yet, so he can’t be sure if it’s normal or not.

 

“Loki, what happened? How did you get in here, little buddy?” he inquires the still crying little boy, hugging him tightly to himself. The kid clings to him like his life depends on it, hiding his teary face into Tony’s neck and just shakes his head, indicating he doesn’t know what happened or doesn’t want to talk about it.

 

“Ssshh… It’s alright, little one. You’re safe here. Okay? You’re safe.” He rocks the kid gently while caressing his still shaking back. “It’s alright. Nothing bad will happen to you here, I promise. Everything’s alright.”

 

After a few long minutes of heartbreaking weeping, the tender reassurances that he murmurs softly into little Loki’s tangled curls slowly reach their goal; the kid’s sobs are quieter now, his breathing more even.

 

“That’s it. You are doing amazingly well, sweetie. Hush, now. Everything’s alright.”

 

“T… Thor?” Loki sniffs after some more minutes of quiet sobbing. He’s calmed down by now to an acceptable level, or at least as much that he can speak audibly again and his tears have slowed considerably.

 

Tony grabs a towel from the sink and starts to gently wipe away the wetness from the little boy’s face. Surprisingly enough he doesn’t complain, just lets Tony do it, squeezing his eyes closed tightly.

 

“Friday, where is the big guy?” Tony asks his AI almost in a whisper, so he won’t disturb the fragile peace in the room.

 

“Mr. Odinson is on his way here, boss. He is pretty worried about young master Loki.”

 

_You don’t say_ , Tony thinks, but he doesn’t say anything else to his AI, for now, instead he smiles kindly at the now rapidly blinking and lightly sniffing kid.

 

“Did you hear it, little one? Your big bro is almost here. What do you say, can we wait for him in the living room?”

 

The little prince considers him for a while, staring with his big, puffy eyes at Tony’s face, then with a prominent pout on his lips he nods.

 

“Come on, then!”

 

As he carries the little boy to the living room his sobbing ceases completely but he buries his warm, still very flushed face back into Tony’s neck, taking a few deep, calming breaths. Tony caresses his back tenderly and continues murmuring reassurances with seemingly endless patience.

 

“That’s it, precious little prince. You are doing amazingly, honey. Your big brother is almost here,” he soothes and the kid curls into his embrace even more, he is kind of like a little koala bear. “Are you thirsty? I’m sure I would be if I did as wonderfully as you’re doing.”

 

The little boy nods rapidly into his neck in response and Tony chuckles lightly.

 

“Thought so,” Tony smiles as he makes his way towards the kitchen. It is quite lucky now that the kid is so light because like this he can manage to hold him with his left arm under his little bum and open his fridge with his right hand.

 

“So, we have some orange juice and water with bubbles and without bubbles. Which one would you like?”

 

“Orange?” the kid asks in a tiny voice and Tony almost facepalms himself. Of course, he doesn’t know what an orange is. Thor didn’t know what an orange was when he first came to Earth, either.

 

“It’s a fruit, sweetheart. It’s sweet but a little bit sour, too. It’s tasty I promise. Would you like to try it?”

 

Loki considers his possibilities for some seconds but since the worst case scenario is that he spits Tony in the face with the drink – obviously – he eventually nods and Tony grabs the bottle from his fridge and a glass from the shelf so he can pour some juice for the little boy.

 

After he pushes the half-full glass into the little prince’s hands, he sips from it cautiously then furrowing his brows he looks into Tony’s eyes.

 

“Well?” Tony inquires with an amused smirk. He considers not having his face full of orange juice a good sign.

 

The kid takes another sip just to make sure then nods in acceptance.

  

“It is strange but not bad.”

 

Tony smiles in victory and pats his little back lightly, calmingly.

 

“Drink up then, champ.”

 

And little Loki does drink the whole amount that Tony poured to him, and just as he finishes it, the elevator door opens and a quite frenzied looking Thor appears from behind it.

 

“Loki, my little one!” he bellows as he spots the kid in Tony’s arms and the little boy starts to squirm immediately, holding his tiny arms out to his brother, indicating that he wants a change in the person holding him.

 

Thor is in front of them with a few, enormous strides and grabs the kid out of Tony’s arms before he could comprehend what’s happening and little Loki just clings to him while babbling in a language that Tony can’t understand – obviously complaining about his unpleasant morning. Thor replies in the same language – and wow, Tony’s never heard him speaking Old Norse before – then he turns toward Tony while rocking the child in his arms lightly, in a reassuring way.

 

“Anthony, I thank you for waking up so early and comforting my brother. He told me he was very upset when he found himself alone in some strange chambers, but soon you came and comforted him. Which is not an easy task, I know it very well.”

 

“Well, you’re very welcome. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. Did the little guy say what’s happened?”

 

“No, not yet. He only told me he was very scared until you found him. Can you tell us what happened, little brother?” Thor asks, taking the empty glass out of Loki’s hand and walks over to the counter to put it down. Tony is quite surprised it survived their passionate reunion.

 

“I do not know, Thor. I’ve just woken up and you were still sleeping so I thought about how hungry I was and about that Sir Tony will make me a super, pretty and shiny roo-bot cat and then I was not in bed anymore but in a bathtub, alone. And it was scary,” the little boy explains and Tony smiles at the absolutely adorable way he says ‘roo-bot’.

 

Thor, however, furrows his brows at the explanation and looks pretty concerned. Tony doesn’t feel in ease with it, either.

 

“Friday, did you see anything else?” he inquires his Ai.

 

“Well, young master Loki’s explanation is quite accurate, boss. In one second he was in bed with Mr. Odinson and the other he was in your bathtub. However, I detected a green light around him before his disappearance from the bed and after his reappearance in the bathtub.”

 

“Oh!” Thor and Tony say at the same time in realization.

 

“It was your seiðr, brother. It seems like it started to manifest. Well, it is a little bit early, I do not remember you using it even accidentally until you were seven years old, but since you are not a regular child and your older self was an extremely powerful sorcerer I am not surprised so much it started showing a little bit early.”

 

“Seiðr? Like mother’s?” the little boy’s eyes widen in awe.

 

“Exactly, dearest.”

 

Loki’s lips turn into a pleased smile and Tony is really tempted to ask if Loki was really that powerful of a sorcerer, because they didn’t really experience his gifts during the invasion – if Thor says the truth then it was for their luck – but he is afraid he wouldn’t like the answer he would get very much and maybe it is not a subject that needs to be discussed in front of the kid.

 

“So, what will happen now? He will just pop out of existence and into it randomly around the Tower?” Tony inquires instead.

 

“Well, as I remember it… Yes, that’s how it went the first time around,” Thor grins while patting the excited looking little boy’s back really gently.

 

Well, that will be really fun…

 

“Isn’t that dangerous, Thor? He could teleport to anywhere… What if he teleports to the roof and falls down? Or into my workshop when I’m not there and Dum-E attacks him with the fire extinguisher? Or he can teleport into Steve’s and Bucky’s room while they’re fu… playing adult games. It would be a traumatizing experience to a little kid, I assure you,” Tony frets but Thor just waves him off nonchalantly.

 

“It will be alright, my friend. My brother was a very competent little sorcerer even when he was really young. Also, he is very clever. Now that he knows what has happened I am sure he will not get so scared when it happens again and he can ask for help from Friday to find one of us. Right, brother?”  

 

The kid nods heatedly then turns towards Tony with a little frown on his forehead.

 

“Why can I not play with Sir Steve and Sir Bucky?” he asks very seriously and Tony almost chokes on his own saliva. Well, here we go… Why do kids have the ability to ask the most awkward questions?

 

He looks at Thor for help but the little shit just stares back at him wordlessly, biting his lower lip to stop himself from laughing and looks very amused in altogether, and Tony is really curious about what would happen if he kicked the god of puppy eyes in the shin. Like accidentally but really hard and while he is in his armor, so Thor would probably feel it and Tony’s toes would stay in one piece, too… But he’s got enough self-preservation in himself not to try it, fortunately.  

 

He rather looks back at the kid and tries to smile in his most innocent way. He just hopes he doesn’t look like a maniac pervert.

 

“Of course, you can play with them sometimes, little one, but believe me, most of the time they play really… boring games with each other which you wouldn’t even want to see.”

 

“Or you are just mean,” the kid pouts and Tony gets offended immediately which he demonstrates with a big gasp and a hand squeezed to his chest.

 

“Well, if I’m that mean, then maybe I shouldn’t build you a super, very shiny and pretty robot kitten and you can do it yourself,” he threatens, trying not to sound entirely serious. He doesn’t want to upset the little boy again, just wants to show him what ‘mean’ really means. Also, he is curious about how spoiled the kid is; will he throw a tantrum or not?

 

Little Loki gets pouty instantly and looks back at his brother for reassurance or something but Thor just raises his brows in a ‘well-buddy-what-can-you-do-against-it’ way so Loki turns back toward Tony with an even sulkier expression.

 

“You would do that to me when you are my favorite?” he mumbles and Tony seriously questions his adopted status since he can pull the kicked puppy look off even better than his brother – or Steve, and just how is that possible? – and Tony doesn’t know if he wants to laugh at the oh-so-Loki way of manipulation or wants to get offended for being manipulated by a five-year-old. Because he is being manipulated, but he doesn’t find it in himself to really mind it. Not if it comes from this precious little boy.

 

Thor’s face is actually almost crimson as he tries to hold back his laughter and Tony can’t even blame him. The little thing is a perfect replica of his adult self, just in a much more innocent, childish way.

 

“I would not. Do you know why, buddy? Because I’m not mean,” he says with a deep frown on his forehead.

 

The kid just stares at him for a little while, cocking his head left, then he smiles oh so prettily and adorably that Tony couldn’t be mad at him even if he wanted to. And he really doesn’t want to, so…

 

“No, you are not. You are the best,” the little boy says eventually and Thor is absolutely done; while Tony grins triumphantly he starts to laugh so hard that he needs to put the little boy down so he won’t drop him accidentally. It’s actually very pleasant to see him in such good spirits for once so Tony doesn’t bother him, he rather holds out his right hand for the kid who takes it reluctantly, sometimes sending a concerned look toward his big brother.

 

“Come on, champ. You said you were hungry when you woke up and you didn’t even eat a lot yesterday evening. I’m sure I’ve got something that you will like,” he chatters as he starts to usher the five-year-old toward the counter island. When they arrive, he grabs him under his arms and puts him on one of the tall stoles. Thor is still laughing in the background.

 

“Be careful to not fall down,” he warns the child who nods then looks back at his brother once again.

 

“Do you know what my brother’s problem is, Sir Tony?” he inquires quietly.

 

“He is just very glad you’re back with him, sweetheart,” he ruffles the kid’s unruly curls who – surprisingly enough – doesn’t try to chase away his hand, instead he moves into the gentle touch. “So, have you ever tried Cheerios?”

 

**

 

So Loki actually really, really loves Cheerios. The poor little thing was so hungry he ate four – four! – bowls of it and didn’t even get sick. Tony almost didn’t let him have his fourth portion but Thor told him – as he was destroying his third sandwich – that it was pretty normal for him to eat this much, even more so that he hasn’t really eaten a lot the day before.

 

Well, good for him then. Tony stayed with his extra strong black coffee and some orange juice.

 

“You should eat something, Anthony,” Thor says while he chews the last bit of his sandwich. Loki is sipping on his orange juice, very contently dangling his tiny legs in the air.

 

“Coffee is all I need to function, big guy, don’t you worry,” Tony waves him off nonchalantly, finishing his coffee off with a big gulp.

 

Thor seemingly wants to argue since he’s already opened his mouth to do so – seems like being a daddy pulled out all of his latent parental instincts – when the elevator door opens all of a sudden and a very sleepy looking Natasha toddles into the living room. She is still half asleep judging by her half-lidded eyes and heavily tangled hair.

 

“Tony, Friday said you were already up,” she mumbles, still not really seeing anything despite her half opened eyes. It’s actually good to see Nat so relaxed and off-guard for once. This is one of the many reasons why they decided to give another chance to this whole ‘Avengers-living-together-like-a-big-family’ thing. After the defeat of the Mad Titan all of them were even more paranoid than before, some of them couldn’t even sleep or eat for days in a row because they saw ghosts and suspicious shadows in everything they looked at. They spoke with each other every day because they just needed to know that their teammates were actually still among the living and their delirious nightmares were nothing more but just those; nightmares.

 

Once he spoke away a whole day and night with Nat about a sappy rom-com that the both of them were watching in the exact same time on the two ends of the World. They took bathroom breaks together, too.

 

 The next day Steve called at 2:00 AM, asking if he could come over from Brooklyn, please, because he’d just woken up from a dream where he actually killed Tony in Siberia, and chased Bucky into a mood with the tantrum that he’d just thrown and it was really not safe for them to be in the same place at the moment, and he really, really, really wanted to see Tony, too.  

 

How could a caffeine-high, sleep-deprived Tony say no to that?

 

Peter was sleeping on his sofa at the time, quietly defeating his own nightmares as Steve wept into his chest, clutching his tee tightly above the place where his shield destroyed the suit’s arc reactor. Maybe Tony cried a little, too.

 

In the morning Natasha visited with a strikingly pale and quiet Sam in tow and Tony didn’t ask anything just let them nest up on the couch of the communal floor.

 

In the afternoon Clint flew in, too, saying he just couldn’t stay with his family at the moment, fearing he would hurt them seriously during one of his more intense flashbacks.

 

By the evening a still very sullen looking Bucky arrived, and even though frowning at everyone and everything – especially at Steve – he just couldn’t stay away from his beau for as long as a whole day.

 

Both Thor and Bruce came back home with Tony after everything was over and done with since they actually didn’t have anywhere else to go. That’s why Tony got back his tower and moved back to New York with them, in the first place. He didn’t have anywhere else to go by then, either…

 

Although until then they were just moping around, each of them on their personal floors, not really doing anything, not even interacting with each other if it wasn’t necessary. Except with Peter, who visited so regularly that he, too, almost lived in the Tower and on his really bad days he didn’t even want to go home, instead he curled up on one of their couch for the night. So in some weeks he got his own floor that he used almost every day, especially since now he could be sure his Auntie May was completely safe with the great Lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes on her side. Yeah, yeah, it’s a longs story, but they’re a thing now. A totally perfect thing.

 

But in spite of their previous asocial behavior, having most of their teammates in the building made the four of them a little bit less secluded – even if it was just for the time period of a really awkward dinner at the time. An awkward dinner during which Tony looked over these broken, but still absolutely wonderful, gorgeous people – his _team_ – and said ‘Alright, fellas, all of your floors are ready to accommodate you. If you want them you know where to find them. Anytime.”

 

Well, _anytime_ turned out to mean _all the time_ , since from that day – that was almost half a year ago – they have never gone anywhere. Not for long, at least. Except for Thor, of course.

 

Things were not so great, at first, just because they were together again. There were heated arguments, over-dramatic tantrums, unpleasant silences, murderous glares, shameful tears and a hell of a lot of sleepless nights. But there were, also, quite apologies, reassuring words, warm smiles, clingy embraces, movie nights and slumber parties. It wasn’t perfect but with time it’s got better and everyone’s got a little bit steadier with every passing day. Well, except for Thor, again…

  


So, it’s actually really heartwarming to see his teammate so peaceful and unreserved for once and Tony’s eyes maybe get a little bit teary but it’s just because they’re quite tired, of course.

 

“I’m sorry I send you up here with Thor yesterday,” Nat continues, still with perfectly unfocused eyes, “I know you hate to be here. But I was worried if you stayed down… Oh!”

 

Oh, yes, now she notices. Tony knows he shouldn’t _giggle_ at her dumbfounded expression, but she is just so cute like this… And fortunately, she completely ignores him after she realizes who the other two people in the room are.

 

“Hi there, lovely eyes! I can see that Tony tries really hard to steal you, doesn’t he? Good morning, big guy!” she pats Thor’s shoulder as she passes him on her way to the little boy. When she arrives, she caresses gently those tangled, black curls and to everyone’s surprise the kid holds out his tiny arms to her with a happy ‘Lady Nat’ yelp, indicating he wants to be picked up. Well, he couldn’t deny his princely origins even if he wanted to considering how much he likes to be carried around.

 

Nat comes by from her surprise rather quickly and gently takes the little boy into her arms.

 

“Aw, why are those pretty eyes so puffy, little darling? Why did you cry?” she begins to rock him lightly and Loki cuddles up to her, once again surprising everyone.

 

“I was scared,” he mumbles into Natasha’s blond curls, but quickly he adds, “but just a little bit.”

 

Nat seemingly doesn’t want to pry the little boy for information more and glances toward the two adults in the room.

 

“His magic acted up. Poor thing teleported into my bathtub accidentally after he woke up and panicked a little. But we handled the situation pretty well, didn’t we, Loki?” Tony asks the little boy who by now buried his little face into Natasha’s neck but obviously pays attention to them since he nods.

 

“Oh, I see. So you’re already a very powerful little thing, aren’t you?”

 

Loki glances up at her and nods.

 

“Yes, I think so,” he agrees easily, making everyone giggle once again.

 

But their merry isn’t long-lived because in seconds a bright flash of green light appears around Loki’s tiny body then ceases just as suddenly and…

 

Well…

 

What the holy…

 

Okay, this is an interesting development.

 

Now, Loki has shoulder-long, messy curls, even softer facial features and a slightly more delicate body.

 

As Natasha just stares dazedly at the now squirming… little girl, Tony turns to a widely grinning Thor and bumps his shoulders to his, asking for his attention.

 

“Ugh… Thor!”

 

“Yes, Anthony?” Thor answers, still watching Loki with a proud, parental smile.

 

“Your kid’s just… became a little girl,” he states like it isn’t obvious for the blond demigod.

 

“Yes, she did. Is she not very skilled already?”

 

Tony is sure it’s tears that make the thunderer’s left eye so bright but he tries to ignore it.

 

“Does she do that a lot? I’ve never seen his older-self in a girl form. And is it he or she?”

 

“She. At least, her older-self preferred to be addressed with the pronoun of his or her actual gender. I am sure she did it accidentally now because Lady Natasha was kind to her and she likes her already, because she does not do this a lot. Well, did not. But I assume it was because of the circumstances. She was mocked for her magic enough, so…” he glances down onto his lap with… is that guilt on that handsome face?

 

Oh, Thor…

 

Well, this will be a tough ride.

 

“Why was she mocked for it?”

 

Thor shrugs his shoulders that are shockingly hunched at the moment.

 

“It was considered a women’s craft,” he murmurs, ashamed.

 

Tony would have some additional words to that statement, but he doesn’t think Thor needs the lecture. Not anymore.

 

He rather pats the demigod’s nearer shoulder and glances back towards their two girls just in time to experience another flash of green light and ta-da, Loki is back to his little boy form. He doesn’t really seem like he noticed the change in the way of his appearance. And Nat isn’t very concerned, either. She shrugs her shoulders and sits on the stole that was inhabited by Loki not so long ago with the little boy in her lap.

 

“So what were you planning to do today, sweetie?” she asks while pouring some Cheerios and milk into Tony’s unused bowl and pushes it in front of Tony with a prominent, pointed frown.

 

Tony frowns back but starts to eat like the good boy that he is.

 

“I can help Thor to work out, then I can read and help Sir Tony making a roo-bot cat,” Loki replies with the most serious little face.

 

“Well, you can do all of that, buddy, but before you start you will need some Earthy little boy clothes. I know it’s comfy but you can’t wear only your big brother’s tees. So what do you say?” Tony inquires after he swallows the cereal in his mouth.

 

The little prince’s eyes widen in delight to the mention of clothes.

 

“Clothes! I love clothes!”

 

Oh, yeah. Tony will spoil him rotten.

 


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loki likes his new home but he is bored. Also, Steve is being a Drama Queen™ and Tony is completely done with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, Darlings! I'm so, so, so sorry for the long wait. But now, I'm back and Chapter 4 is here. 
> 
> I would like to thank Mettamom999 for editing this chapter, too! 
> 
> Thank you so much for all the kudos and comments!

 

Loki likes it here, on Midgard. Well, obviously, he would like it better at home, on Asgard, with Mother and Father and little Thor and big Thor, too, but… He doesn’t want to think about that. And it’s really very good here, too.

 

It was strange, first. Still is, sometimes. But now, he’s been here for almost a whole week and he’s got to know a lot of new things. Some of them he likes very much.

 

First of all, he _loves_ ice cream. It’s the best thing, really. It’s sweet and cold and perfect. Sir Tony introduced him to it while Thor and Sir Steve tried to coerce Spider-Peter down from the ceiling after a dinner so he could go home to his aunt for his weekly visit. It was love at first taste!

 

Thor was not happy…

 

Secondly, he really, really loves his new roo-bot cat; Eira. She doesn’t have fur and doesn’t need to be feed, but she is shiny in a metallic way, has big, yellow eyes and tiny paws and she is very, very cute. She likes to sleep with Loki and Thor at nights and cuddle up to Loki when he feels lonely. She also purrs when Loki eats his vegetables, so now he tries to eat some every once in a while. And Sir Tony made her just in a few hours! With Loki’s help, of course…

 

Oh, and he knows she is a robot, not a roo-bot, obviously, but since everyone thinks it’s hilarious when he says it the wrong way, he keeps doing it.

 

Thirdly, he loves Midgardian clothes! They are super comfy but look really nice and Sir Tony bought so many for him that Loki couldn’t even try on all of them yet. Although, he still wears his cape over them, of course.

 

But also there are things that he really doesn’t like.

 

Like Midgardian children’s books. They are just boooring. And there are a lot of pictures in them for what reason Loki can’t understand. Like… he can imagine everything he reads perfectly, thank you very much. Though, he likes the moving pictures in the Television device. But still, sometimes he is just in the mood for a good read, so he has to borrow Sir Tony’s or Sir Bruce’s books. Usually, they are about some kind of Midgardian science that Loki sometimes doesn’t understand because they are full of strange words, but usually he gets the essential parts of them. Sir Tony and Sir Bruce chuckled at him when he first asked them for their books, saying they’re not really for five-year-olds, but gave some to him, nonetheless. They looked at him a little bit funny, after Loki finished the first and started to ask questions about it, but they came to soon and started babbling about everything but the thing that Loki was curious about. Sir Sam was present at the time, too, and rolling his eyes he only said ‘Good, now we have another little genius.’. Thor laughed so hard, he fell off the couch. Loki didn’t understand why, since apparently he is really that, a genius – Sir Tony and Sir Bruce said so, too. And still little, so…

 

He also doesn’t like pizza. He was told that is not possible since everyone loves pizza, but cheese is just eww. Melted cheese is even worse!

 

He hasn’t got to be very fond of the Midgardian traveling devices, cars, either. Sir Tony has a lot of them and took Lady Nat, Thor and him out in one of them when they went to buy him clothes. It wasn’t that bad, but he still prefers horses and airships over them. Also, getting new clothes on Midgard is a curious thing. There is a place that is full of differently styled and sized clothes that you can choose from. It’s crazy!

 

Loki also likes the people that he is living with.

 

Sir Clint always smiles at him kindly and showed him his archery set that is just awesome! But Loki hasn’t talked to him a lot, yet.

 

Sir Sam is really funny and easy-going and he always makes Loki laugh somehow. He can imitate a lot of animal’s voice, too.

 

Sir Steve is very nice and kind. He spends a lot of time with Thor when they are working out and he always tries to pull Loki into their activities somehow so he doesn’t bore himself to death. Loki is usually the judge of their sparring matches that obviously Thor wins, most of the time. But once Sir Steve asked for Loki’s help to defeat his brother, and then they won, very easily so. Oh, yes, they did.

 

Sir James looked scary at first, but actually he smiles and speaks a lot. And he has got really pretty hair that he wears in a bun sometimes. He once did Loki’s hair like that, too, and he was really gentle – not like Thor when he decides that Loki’s hair is up for its daily brushing every other day.

 

Sir Bruce is not very talkative unless it’s about something science-y, but it’s good to be in his presence because he is always calm and relaxed. Also, he sometimes hides a chocolate bar into Loki’s hand, after he tries some of the veggies during mealtimes, and Loki absolutely loves him for it. Thor doesn’t know about their scheme, fortunately.

 

Lady Nat reminds Loki of his Mother quite much. Not because they look alike or anything but both of them are very kind and nice but fierce and confident at the same time. Loki thinks Lady Nat would be a great queen, too. He wouldn’t even need a king beside her to rule. She also likes to play dress up with Loki and that is just the best thing!

 

Spider-Peter is very energetic and sometimes silly, but he is pretty clever, too. He is polite and respectful with the adults, though a little bit mouthy with Sir Tony. First Loki thought he was Sir Tony’s son, but Thor told him he was just his protégé, although he was convinced they were kin, too, the first time he saw them together. Also, he likes to show Loki moving pictures – videos! – on a little television – phone! – about funny animals and silly people that Loki enjoys greatly.

 

Sir Tony… Loki really likes Sir Tony a lot. And it isn’t just because he gave Loki Eira and bought him clothes. He is really kind and funny and generous and very, very smart. Although Loki is convinced about that every inhabitant of this building is pretty clever, Sir Tony is just something else. Loki has never met a person like Sir Tony before. The smartest people that Loki has met are boring and uptight. Not Mother, of course, but Father and his teachers and the Healer Ladies… Well, they are just not fun. At all.

 

But Sir Tony is not like that. He is the funniest adult that Loki has ever met. For some reasons he also feels the urge to buy Loki anything that he sees in the television and likes just the littlest bit. So that’s how Loki has got two _cycles_ and a pair of _roller-skates_ , now. He cannot use them just yet, but Sir Steve and Sir James promised him they would teach him. He can’t wait!

 

Oh, Loki knows he is being spoiled. He is a second prince, he is used to not getting everything he wants. So it’s natural that now he just can’t resist Sir Tony’s gifts. And he doesn’t want to see him sad because of his refusal, either. He once saw him sad while he was speaking with a lady on the phone, and Loki really didn’t like him that way. He asked Thor why Sir Tony was sad, and he answered that he missed someone very much. Which Loki could relate, actually. He misses his Mother and little Thor very much, as well. And sometimes he is sad because of it, too.

 

Oh, and Loki has got Seidr! It is quite funny now, though it was scary, first. Not scary-scary, but rather strange-scary. Like Loki once just appeared in Sir Tony’s bathtub, although he was in bed the previous moment, and he was alone and didn’t know where. But now, it is alright if he suddenly appears in different rooms of the building, because he knows why it’s happened. And it’s not like it happened a lot until now, just twice. Once he was really hungry and from the training room he teleported to the communal kitchen. The second time happened yesterday; he’s been tucked into bed already, Thor quietly reading on his tablet next to him, and he’d just remembered about Sir Steve and Sir James promise about teaching him to use his new tools, so the next second he appeared in their bedroom. Contrary to Sir Tony’s fears, they weren’t playing any boring games, they were in bed together, without their clothes, cuddling in a curious position and kissing. Loki didn’t know until then that two men could kiss each other, but Sir Steve and Sir James looked like they really liked to do it, so Loki supposed it was perfectly alright. Although he still laughed at them, because Sir Steve’s butt jiggled funnily after Sir James smacked it a little. Surely, Sir Steve was bad for getting a slap onto his butt.

 

As the consequence of his chuckling they noticed him, of course, and Sir James’ face became crimson while Sir Steve actually screamed in surprise. So Loki laughed at them harder.

 

Thor wasn’t amused when he found out where Loki teleported from next to him and glared at the two, still half-naked men critically as they were standing in their bedroom door, with Loki in Sir Steve’s arms. He only seemed to calm down after Sir James assured him Loki didn’t see anything _too_ bad. Loki didn’t know what they were talking about, because he was too tired by then, and really, he didn’t see _anything_ bad. Although, after he was tucked back into bed, he asked Thor if it was really okay if two men kissed each other since he has never seen something like that on Asgard. Thor caressed his hair gently and gave a kiss onto his forehead before answering that yes, it was really perfectly okay for two men or two women to kiss each other, but just if the both of them wanted it. And since Sir Steve and Sir James looked like they really, really wanted to kiss each other, Loki was happy for them, as he drifted off to sleep that night.

  


He looks up from his drawing at Thor. He is sleeping on the other couch, Eira contently purring on his back. He looks peaceful, but Loki is worried about him. It cannot be normal for an adult to sleep so much. He’d fallen asleep with Loki after lunch and he’s been napping since then, though Loki’s been awake for hours now.

 

He played with Eira a little with a _laser pen_ he has got from Sir Sam, but after she got bored with him and went to lazy around on Thor’s back, he remembered he got a drawing kit from Sir Steve, so he sat down and started to draw. He didn’t really know first what to draw, but soon he got lost in his thoughts and his hand just did its own thing. But now that Loki looks at it better, he doesn’t really know what it is. It looks like a scepter. But it is not Gungnir for sure. It has got a blue stone on it. It’s curious…

 

Loki frowns at his drawing for a while, but soon he shrugs and looks back up at Thor. He is still sleeping like the Dead. And Loki is starting to get bored. Should he wake Thor up? But if he is so tired he should sleep. What if he is sick? He doesn’t remember Thor’s ever being sick, but Loki was, once. He felt very bad at the time and he only wanted to sleep until Mother gave him some very terribly tasting potion. It was awful. So he hopes Thor is not sick.

 

He puts down his drawing onto the couch and paddles over to Thor and puts his palm over his forehead. Mother did this to him, too, when he was sick and told Loki that when someone is sick their body would feel unusually hot to a healthy person. It’s called fever.

 

Thor’s forehead feels normal to Loki. That is good. He is just tired then. Well, as he should be, Loki supposes, since he trained extra hard this morning with Sir Steve and Sir Bucky.

 

Eira meows at him quietly and he hushes her, putting his pointer finger in front of his mouth. She stands up, stretches, then jumps down to the floor so she can rub her cheeks against Loki’s legs. Loki tries to keep his giggle silent. It’s not an easy task, so he grabs Eira – it is good that she is so easy to carry that even he can pick her up – and starts to walk toward the elevator with a wildly purring robot cat in his arms.

 

“Lady Friday?” he asks in a hushed voice when he is almost there.

 

“Yes, young master Loki?” Lady Friday is equally quiet, fortunately.

 

“Can I go up to the communal floor alone? I left my books there and I’m bored and want to read them,” he explains his plans, putting down Eira and patting her head.

 

“I didn’t get any orders against letting you roam the Tower on your own, young master Loki. Captain Rogers and Mr. Stark are there, anyway, so you just stand into the elevator and I will take you there. And I can inform your brother about your whereabouts when he wakes,” Lady Friday assures him.

 

“Thank you,” Loki answers as he steps into the elevator with Eira in tow.

 

**

 

Steve is being a little shit again, and Tony will slap that pretty face of his if he sighs one more time in the next two minutes. Hard.

 

Steve sighs.

 

Tony slams – not Steve’s head against the table, of course, not – but his tablet down onto the table and turns his murderous gaze toward the sulking super soldier.

 

“What have you done again, Rogers? And why don’t you go and bother Samuel or Nat with your shit?” Tony complains, but he instantly regrets his outburst as his gaze stops on the sullen face of his teammate. Damn these overly friendly, giant blonds and their stupid kicked-puppy faces.

 

“Okay, okay, sorry. You know I didn’t mean it. I just have to get over these stupid documents by tomorrow, and you know how much I hate to do this kind of things, but since Pep…” No, Tony, we don’t go there. “Anyway, what is it, Steve? You sighed like two million times in the last half an hour and I’m surprised you’re not on an oxygen-high by now.”

 

“You’re right,” Steve agrees, as he stands up from the table, cradling his hot chocolate to his chest. “I know you’re working, I shouldn’t have…”

 

“You put that perfect bum of yours back into the chair, Rogers, instantly, and start speaking. If I really wanted to work, I would have gone to my penthouse. Come on, we are throwing a boy’s afternoon. Want some rum or vodka into that chocolaty goodness?”

 

Steve falls back into his chair bonelessly as Tony gets up from his to go to the cabinet, and nods.

 

“Yeah, vodka.”

 

“Oh, someone feels really low.”

 

Tony grabs the vodka from the cabinet and sits back next to Steve.

 

“Yeah, pretty low.” Steve claims the glass and tops up his half-empty mug with the alcohol. Well… It’s a pity he won’t get drunk from it, he is a pretty cute and affectionate drunk – judging by the rare occasions that Thor gave him some of his magical booze.

 

“What’s the matter?”

 

“I think…” he sighs again, fixing his gaze on his mug. “I think, he doesn’t love me anymore, Tony,” he mumbles and Tony tries to ignore his shaking voice and wobbling lower lip.

 

He fails.

 

That’s why it sinks in slowly what Steve is actually talking about. But when it does…

 

“Excuse you?” he yells, completely offended on Bucky’s behalf. “What the fuck, Rogers? Thor eventually managed to kill off your last brain cell with a good beating this morning, or what?”

 

“No, Tony, just listen…”

 

“You listen, Steve! That boy is completely head over heels with you, you little bitch. He has been since the thirties. He was able to throw off his programming because he recognized you despite being brainwashed and doesn’t even knowing his own name, for fuck’s sake!”

 

“I know that, Tony, but people change and-”

 

“You’re shitting me right now, aren’t you?”

 

“No, Tony, I-”

 

“So you’re serious. Oh my God, Steve! If I wouldn’t have quit drinking, I would drink a whole glass of Tequila right now. In one go.”

 

“Please, don’t do that, Tony. You’re doing so good so far.”

 

“Do you know why I used ‘if’, Steve? Because I will NOT. But I would, if-”

 

“That’s wonderful, Tony. I’m so proud of you. We all are.”

 

Tony suddenly feels the urge to facepalm himself, hard. But looking at Steve’s genuinely proud, eager expression, he holds it back somehow and inhales deeply instead.

 

“Okay, okay, thank you. It’s good to know,” he says and waves Steve – who has already opened his mouth to reply – off. “But we aren’t talking about me right now. So what’s up with your beau?”

 

“He doesn’t love me anymore, Tony. I don’t know how to say it in another way,” Steve starts to sound indignant, and Tony is very, very near to smacking him on that hard, empty head of his.

 

He doesn’t do so.

 

He rather starts to massage his temples.

 

“Why do you think so?”

 

“I think… I think, he really likes Sam and…”

 

Tony may end the existence of this stuttering mess next to him in the following seconds. It would be merciful.

 

“Sam is with Nat, Steve,” he finds the patience in himself to say it calmly.

 

“They aren’t really together. They’re just f…”

 

“If you say it I will kick you in the shin.”

 

“Tony-”

 

“Hush!” Tony almost yells and Steve – surprisingly enough – does as he was told, but poutily lifts his mug to his lips, drinks from it like it’s water in it and not fifty-fifty of vodka and hot chocolate.

 

“You can’t seriously think that James’s cheating on you with your other best friend, Steve. That is just mad.”

 

“I’m not thinking that, of course. Bucky is not like that. I’m just saying that I think he got bored of me. And that isn’t really that surprising since we have been together for so long now. Maybe he’s only with me because he is used to it. But he deserves to be with someone he loves, you know? He deserves that so much, Tony and… I still love him. Of course, I still do, but I think he is not happy with me anymore. And he likes Sam very much. Maybe he didn’t even realize it fully yet, but-”

 

“Steve, please, shut up!” Tony actually goes and squeezes his right hand to Steve’s mouth, rather effectively shutting him up, at last. Well, yeah, it’s effective for quieting the blond, but it’s sure as hell isn’t good for his rapidly intensifying heaving and even more certainly won’t stop the tears that are now running down on his flushed face and Tony’s hand.

 

NO!

 

No, no, no, no…

 

“Oh my God, Steve, no!” he releases his sobbing friend’s mouth promptly and jumps up from the chair so he can hug him to his chest. “Don’t do this to me! Come on! Come here! Yes, breathe just like that. Calm and deep. There, there, that’s a good boy. You are doing great.”

 

He feels his shirt getting wet where Steve hides his face into his chest, but he ignores it and pats his head gently, continuing to murmur reassuring words and praises.

 

And, of course, this is the moment that Peter choose to show up.

 

But thankfully for some unknown reasons – probably because Friday warned him about that there’s a _situation_ on the communal floor – he doesn’t start with his usual, cheerful ‘Mr. Stark!’, rather just waves at them silently. But as soon as he realizes the happenings in front of him, his eyes widen and his mouth forms a soundless ‘O’.

 

Steve is turned away from him, so he doesn’t notice his presence but Tony waves back to him, though he starts to shoo him away in the next moment when Peter takes a step in their direction.

 

‘What happened?’ Peter mouths to Tony mutely.

 

‘Nothing. Just being stupid,’ Tony mouths back.

 

Peter takes another step toward them but stops instantly when Tony waves at him again. And seriously, how deep Steve is in his misery that he doesn’t even notice his wiggling around in his arms with those senses of his? Tony begins to feel a little bit bad for snapping at him so vehemently but he also wants to kick his ass for being so ridiculous.

 

Also, he feels the sudden urge to strangle Bucky and Sam. He doesn’t know yet why he would do it, but surely, they deserve it if they managed to make Steve Rogers weep like this, somehow.

 

‘I can help!’ Peter complains still soundlessly, after being sent away.

 

‘I’ve got it. Shoo now!’

 

Peter rolls his eyes – the cheeky little bastard – and with a final pout at Steve’s way he does as he was told for once and silently steps back to the elevator. Hopefully, he won’t rush to inform Bucky about his sweetheart’s distress. A mother hen-ing, overprotective Bucky Barnes and a stubborn, unreasonable, jealous(!) Steve Rogers in one room is the last thing that Tony needs in his life at the moment.

 

“Was that Peter?” Steve mumbles into his chest the second the elevator door closes after Peter. Well, yeah, seems like he didn’t stop operating his super senses just because he had a little mental breakdown.

 

At least, he is not crying anymore, just sobs quietly.

 

“Oh, look, who is back with us!” Tony releases him and steps back from his personal space. “By the way, yes. How did you know that? Geez, look at you! Here!” he grabs a roll of paper towel from the counter and puts it on the table, in front of Steve. “Wipe it, blow it, Captain Snotty.”

 

“Everyone else would have made a fuss if they’d found us like that. And haha, very funny,” Steve murmurs into a piece of paper but does as he was told and wipes away the wetness from his face then blows his nose.

 

And just what’s up with everyone being good little boys and listening to him today? Maybe this is his lucky day? He should test his theory on Clint. Maybe if he told him to call his family, he would do it, at last. It would be a damn miracle by this point.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to cry like a baby,” Steve says after he is finished with cleaning up his face.

 

“It’s alright. But I have to tell you that you actually beat Loki in this. The little sweetheart is only five but didn’t cry like this when he thought he was lost and alone in an unfamiliar place,” Tony teases good-naturedly and accomplishes his goal with it since Steve’s lips turn into a weak smile.

 

“Because he’s a brave little fella,” Steve replies with a little shrug.

 

“That he is. And you’re just a big cry-baby.”

 

When Steve sends a sulky glare in his direction, he sighs and sits back in his chair.

 

“Seriously, Steve. You don’t know how stupid you’re being at the moment. I know you two have got some difficulties; he has flashbacks, you have flashbacks, he’s in a mood, you’re in a mood, he’s overprotective, you’re a martyrial, stubborn moron – and can we just avoid that in the future, please? – but my gosh! You should see his eyes when he’s looking at you sometimes! No, wait! Friday will demonstrate it. Fri, show him.”

 

“Right away, boss. The picture was taken yesterday, during dinner time.”

 

Tony’s abandoned tablet on the table instantly brightens up, displaying a pic from a video footage that was made with a security camera. It shows Loki, Bucky and Steve; the kid’s just sitting there, frowning at his dinner as usual if it contains the littlest bit of veggies or meat, while Steve’s pouring him his orange juice and Bucky’s staring at his boyfriend with the biggest heart-eyes that Tony’s ever seen. Tony didn’t catch this particular moment yesterday since he didn’t come up from his workshop for dinner, but it’s exactly that kind of moment, that he’s just described to Steve.

 

“Perfect, Friday. Thank you,” he grabs his tablet from the table and practically shoves it in Steve’s face. “See, you little shit? This is what I’m talking about. Tell me now that your bae isn't completely and totally still in love with you! I dare you!”

 

Steve takes over the tablet from him and for some seconds just stares at the pic but then the prettiest little smile appears on his lips and his whole face lights up from happiness.

 

“Oh, now he’s smiling! Fri, you did a great job. You’ll get a pay-rise. Do you want to see more, lover boy? Friday…”

 

“No. No, Tony, it’s enough,” Steve puts back the tablet on the table. “I see now what you meant. But then-”

 

“Oh, he’s starting it again…”

 

“-why is he always with Sam, lately?”

 

“Well, they’re obviously friends despite their ongoing sass-fest and enjoy each other’s company, so-“

 

“Yes, but why do they always stop talking when I find them and look at me like deer caught in the headlights?”

 

Seems like Friday is really into this demonstrate-it-with-pics thingy because she instantly opens a new picture, showing the two little deer huddled together, and indeed, looking like they were caught in the headlights. Interesting…

 

“Well, maybe they’ve got bored with this peacefully times and plan World domination. Really, Steve-”

 

“And why doesn’t he want to have-”

 

“Oh, no, we’re not going there!”

 

“-sex with me anymore, Tony? Am I getting old? Ugly? Do I smell weird?”

 

“Yes, Steve, you’re are a smelly, disgusting old folk now, better deal with it.”

 

Stupid question, stupid answer. But Steve goes on with his rant like he didn’t even hear him.

 

“Yesterday we almost got there, but I had to be extra sluty so he would-”

 

“He needed to be _sluty_! I’m going mad.”

 

“-even notice that I wanted to have sex. But then Loki popped up in our room, so that was that and-”

 

“Wait! Loki teleported accidentally into your room while you were having sex?! Oh, my God! I warned Thor about that this would happen, but he didn’t take it seriously. Geez, that poor little boy!”

 

“We weren’t having sex, Bucky was just about to-”

 

“Please, Steve, at least stop doing that innocent face while you’re talking about sex. I can’t take you seriously like this.”

 

“This is really serious, Tony. I don’t know what to do anymore.”

 

“Well, buy lingerie and cuffs or something. I don’t know what super soldiers are into, nowadays.”

 

“I have those. What do you think, how I was sluty?”

 

Friday actually goes and shows a pic about Steve in a… Oh, sweet Valhalla!

 

“Holy shit! Look at them tits!” Tony shouts with a delighted grin and Steve groans as he notices the pic, too, hiding his face into his palms.

 

“Tony…”

 

“What? You know you could ask Friday for a little privacy. Her cameras are for safety, not for spying on your private time with your boyfriend. But if your kink is exhibitionism then-“

 

“We just forgot!”

 

Tony grins at his teammate’s embarrassment for a little more – and hey, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about, not anyone can rock a pink corset like that and Tony is damn proud! – but when Steve’s blush reaches his ears, he clears his throat and pulls out his most serious voice and expression.

 

“I mean- Friday, you will stop this immediately!” he orders his AI sternly and the pic vanishes from the screen promptly then he continues to talk like nothing happened to a still pink-faced Steve who peeks at him from behind his fingers. “So, you needed to be _sluty_. Obviously, with lingerie and cuffs. Is there any other way?”

 

“Yes, but they didn’t work, either,” Steve sighs as he lets his hands fall away from his face.

 

“Steve, I think you should calm down and-”

 

And it hits Tony suddenly like a rocket.

 

_OH!_

 

Oh, shit!

 

Of fucking course!

 

How did he not put two and two together until now? And how will he explain to this dumbass that his relationship is happy and secure and soon it will be even _happier_ and _securer_ without spoiling the surprise that the two little Bambies have been planning so vehemently in the last weeks? Well, actually, they would have deserved to be outed for being so careless, with their professions, nonetheless. Especially Bucky. Wasn’t he like the most dangerous and elusive super spy-assassin for seventy years? And he can’t plan a surprise proposal out for his beau in secret…

 

But no, Tony won’t spoil it for Steve.

 

“Tony?” Steve’s voice interrupts his inner monologue suddenly and he looks back at him instantly. “Tony, what’s the meaning of that face?

 

Oh, shit…

 

What to say? What to say?

 

“Tony, it seems like you know something that I don’t. Why is that? What is it?”

 

What? To? Say?

 

Ah, that’s it! He will say that Sam has a very terrible chronical illness. Then Steve will stop bugging Tony and start bugging Sam. Perfect!

 

“You see, Steve, the thing is that…”

 

“I hate to interrupt your conversation with Captain Rogers, boss,” Friday’s voice cuts off his not really overthought lie. “But I should inform you about that young master Loki is on his way up here.”

 

Oh, that little boy is a God-sent. Quite literally…

 

“Alone?” asks Steve, frowning at the ceiling and Tony won’t tell him again not to do that. It’s for naught.

 

“Yes, he is on his own. Mr. Odinson is sleeping and he’s got bored and decided he needed his books but he left them here.”

 

“Oh, that poor little guy,” Tony smirks amusedly. The kid gets unusually easily bored with everything that is not connected to books. Bruce says it’s perfectly normal for a kid with Loki’s intelligence. It seems legit since Peter is like that, too. And Tony remembers how bored he usually was with everything that his peers found entertaining in first class. But this problem of his was solved instantly when he was sent to boarding school and to among the big kids. His social skills, however…

 

“Boss, there might be-”

 

The elevator door opens as Friday starts to speak and-

 

“-an emergency.”

 

-only a frantically meowing Eira runs out of it.

 

Tony tries to keep his calm and not panic right away. The kid can’t use his magic properly yet, he might be just in the next room.

 

“What do you mean, Friday? Where is the little prince? Did he teleport accidentally to somewhere again?

 

“I don’t know, boss. There was a malfunction with the security camera in the elevator for a few seconds. But my scans show that young master Loki is not in the Tower.”

 

“What?” he jumps up from his chair, alarmed, as does Steve.

 

“Are you sure, Friday?”

 

“Yes, boss, unfortunately, I am.”

 

Well, fuck!

 

“Where is he then? And a malfunction? That’s not possible.”

 

“No, it is not possible. Without external influence, at least.”

 

“Shit, he was kidnapped!” Steve says out loud Tony’s exact thoughts. He looks just as panicked as Tony feels.

 

“Friday, alarm everyone right now! And kick Thor out of bed instantly! We have a kid to rescue and some asses to kick.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, no! Where is our baby?


End file.
